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The authors broaden the scope of consumer identity by introducing individuals’ olfactory abilities and discussing its impact on perception of the self, consumption behaviors, and consumer well-being.

The authors took a mixed-method approach by embedding smell tests during in-depth interviews. A total of 36 interviews were conducted, involving individuals with varying olfactory sensitivity levels, from decreased sensitivity, normal sensitivity, to heightened sensitivity to smell.

Emergent themes from the interviews include compensation, perception of self and control under three key areas: levels of olfactory sensitivity, the impact of olfactory sensitivity, and the coping strategies used by participants and their families. These findings show that olfactory sensitivity can either enhance or detract from the consumption experience or trigger memories of people, locations or experiences, indirectly affecting consumer well-being and quality of life.

Findings reveal that olfactory abilities not only shape and form an individual’s identity but also have a profound impact on (1) consumption behavior: time spent browsing or lingering, purchase order, product choice, or shopping venue which has immense practical implications for marketers; and (2) consumer well-being: developing coping strategies at both the individual and family level to mitigate the issues faced in consumption.

Unlike the other senses, olfactory abilities are often overseen and neglected. The authors show that olfactory abilities are both relevant and salient. The paper is forefront in demonstrating how sensory abilities shape individuals’ identities and in turn influence consumption practices and experiences.

The relationship between the various existing smell taxonomies and the smell impacting factors has been established. The ideology is to identify the most critical smell influencing factors in the vicinity of various software development environments.

To fulfill the said task, the utilization of the amalgamation of two multicriteria decision-making techniques, namely, Entropy method and CODAS method, is presented.

Through this article, the most critical smell impacting criteria with respect to the smell taxonomies is identified. Furthermore, the behaviour of 4 software development principles was then analysed, and their working state has been successfully assessed.

The ideology to study design-related smells in the software system has been studied by a lot of researchers. Some of them have worked upon their detection and the corresponding refactoration process with the help of several algorithms like machine learning and artificial intelligence. But how and to what extent these design-related smells impact the software development environment has remained out of the limelight till now. Through this article, this research gap has been identified, and an attempt to fill it has been made.

Code smells indicate deep software issues. They have been studied by researchers with different perspectives. The need to study code smells was felt from the perspective of software industry. The authors aim to evaluate the code smells on the basis of their scope of impact on widely used open-source software (OSS) projects.

The authors have proposed a methodology to identify and rank the smells in the source code of 16 versions of Apache Tomcat Software. Further, the authors have analyzed the categorized smells by calculating the weight of the smells using constant weights as well as Best Worst Method (BWM). Consequently, the authors have used Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) to determine the rank of versions using constant weights as well as BWM.

Version 1 of Apache Tomcat has least smell, and version 8 is reported to contain the maximum code smells. Notable differences in both the cases during the trend analysis are reported by the study. The findings also show that increase is observed in the number of code smells with the release of newer versions. This increment is observed till version 8, followed by a subtle marked depreciation in the number of code smells in further releases.

The focus is to analyze smells and rank several versions of Apache Tomcat, one of the most widely used software for code smell study. This study will act as a significant one for the researchers as it prioritizes the versions and will help in narrowing down the options of the software used to study code smell.

This research aims to examine the conditions under which individuals’ olfaction is actively engaged in purchase decisions. Consequently, it introduces the concept of need for smell (NFS) to measure differential motivation for the extraction and use of odor information in buying contexts. A ten-item NFS scale was developed that consists of hedonic and utilitarian dimensions.

The scale’s dimensionality and construct validity were examined in five studies. The moderating role of NFS and the mediating role of emotions in the relationship between odor perception and consumer responses were examined. The data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analyses and customized PROCESS models.

The results show that NFS is a two-dimensional construct. The results further support the scale’s internal structure as well as its reliability, convergent, discriminant and nomological validity. NFS moderates the relationship between odor perception and consumer responses, and emotions mediate this relationship. While hedonic NFS strengthens the impact of odor perception on consumer responses, utilitarian NFS weakens this effect.

The present research extends Krishna’s sensory marketing framework, De Luca and Botelho’s scent research framework and Herz et al.’s scent benefits framework, by introducing the concept of NFS into these frameworks. The study demonstrates the relevance and functionality of NFS construct and NFS scale. The study extends the consumer scent research by introducing NFS and illustrating the interplay of odor perception and NFS on consumer responses to scent stimuli.

The NFS scale used in this study adds to the genre of individual difference scales such as need for cognition and need for touch. Given its smell-specific focus, it has applications in a range of consumption contexts. Using NFS, marketers could effectively identify low and high hedonic and utilitarian NFS consumers and position product or ambient scents to serve these segments better. The NFS scale also has implications for the areas of product and service design and development, consumer information search, brand judgments and choice preferences in both scented and non-scented environments.

This work is one of the first attempts, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to explain motivational differences in active engagement of olfaction, especially in purchase decisions. As a critical step in exploring olfactory information processing, the study demonstrates the relevance and functionality of NFS construct and NFS scale. The study extends the consumer scent research by introducing NFS and illustrating the interplay of odor perception and NFS on consumer responses to scent stimuli.

The purpose of this study is to understand whether increasing the number of sensory modalities being stimulated impacts consumers’ in-store emotional responses (i.e. in-store enjoyment and arousal), store image perception and brand attitude.

The study used a between-subjects experimental design to examine 551 individuals’ perceptions and emotional responses in four sensory modalities stimulation conditions (i.e. visual, visual-smell, visual-taste and visual-smell-taste). The study used virtual reality visualisation technology and psychophysiological measurements (i.e. skin conductance and facial expression) to improve the ecological validity of the study design.

The current study supports the importance of multisensory in-store atmospheric design. When increasing the number of sensory modalities being stimulated, more positive emotional responses and perceptions were recorded. Additionally, increasing the number of sensory modalities also increased perceived intensity, and perceived intensity mediate the relationship between the stimulation of multisensory modalities and perception.

The study is without its limitations. For instance, the scope of the study was limited by the exclusion of auditory and haptic stimulation, the lack of manipulation of sensory intensity and the absence of sensory congruency examination.

This study contributes to retail and marketing practices by providing evidence to assist the retail design of in-store sensory cues and customer experiences.

This research uses both self-reported measures and biometric measures to test the sole effect of sensory modalities being stimulated on consumer evaluation. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to examine store atmospheric designs with psychophysiological methodologies and an immersive, two-story-high, 180-degree-visual-field and dome-shaped display.

This research aims to uncover consumers' deeply hidden thoughts and feelings about store scent and its effects on shopping experiences.

Following a qualitative approach, this research uses Zaltman metaphor elicitation technique (ZMET). All the steps of the ZMET have been performed, and important constructs and contents have been explored.

Ultimately, a hierarchical value map was presented. Accordingly, the naturalness and intensity of the scent played a prominent part in its effectiveness. The pleasantness and complexity of the scent, the malodor, congruity and incongruity of the scent, as well as nostalgia, were seen as the predominant originator constructs that resulted in approach or avoidance reactions.

These findings have practical implications for managers seeking to design a store atmospherics making way for consumers to engage with the store and the brand. The cultural milieu in which the study was performed could be seen as a possible limitation of the study. This cultural angle should also be taken into consideration while the findings were considered.

Using ZMET as an innovative research method makes the study significant. By doing so, the metaphors of consumption are extended to the sensory marketing field to provide a more comprehensive understanding on the effects of store scent. Moreover, the study contributes to the existing literature of smell marketing.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of emotions in processing scent information in consumer research, using event-related potential (ERP)-based neuroscience methods, while considering individual differences in sense of smell.

Prior research on olfaction and emotions in marketing has revealed mixed findings on the relationship between olfaction and emotion. The authors review earlier studies and present a neuroscience experiment demonstrating the benefits of ERP methods in studying the automatic processing of emotions.

Results demonstrate how emotional processes occurring within 1s of stimulus exposure differ across individuals with varying olfactory abilities. Findings reveal an automatic suppression mechanism for individuals sensitive to smell.

Scent-induced emotions demonstrated through the use of ERP-based methods provide insights for understanding automatic emotional processes and reactions to ambient scents by consumers in the marketplace.

Findings show an automatic suppression of emotions triggered by scent in individuals sensitive to smell. Marketers and retailers should consider such reactions when evaluating the use of olfactory stimuli in promotional and retail strategies.

The authors review past literature and provide an explanation for the disparate findings in the olfaction–emotion linkage, by studying individual differences in response to scent in the marketplace. This is one of the first papers in marketing to introduce the application of ERP in studying consumer-relevant behavior and provide technical and marketing-specific considerations for both academic and market researchers.

This study measures the effect of each of the five senses on arousal, satisfaction and intention to revisit a live racing event. Spectators' arousal was significantly influenced by sights, sounds and smells. Spectators' sense of smell, taste, and touch directly impacted satisfaction. Interestingly, olfactory stimuli had an effect on both arousal and satisfaction. Spectators' arousal had a significant indirect effect on their revisit intention. The study proposes that motorsports marketers make use of olfactory stimuli to provide racing spectators with memorable experiences.

This paper aims to examine how olfactory imagery, triggered by scent brand names prior to smelling, influences scented-product purchase intention.

Five studies were conducted. Logistic regression analysis was used to predict likelihood of olfactory imagery formation. ANOVA and t-test analyses were used for scent brand name group comparisons, and serial mediation analysis was used to test how scent brand names impact purchase intention through olfactory imagery vividness and the (dis)confirmation between imagined (i.e. expected) and experienced scents.

Scent name familiarity stimulates olfactory imagery formation. Scent brand name specificity (e.g. “Lavender Bouquet” vs. “Floral Bouquet”) influences purchase intention, with specific names leading to lower purchase intention, because they generate vivid olfactory imagery and induce a disconfirmation between imagined and experienced scents.

Branding scents on products should be a strategic product design decision. Surprisingly, although specific scent brand names trigger vivid olfactory imagery and precise scent expectations, they mitigate purchase intention and thus are riskier. General scent brand names are safer.

This research contributes by extending the literature on the effect of verbal cues on scent perception by considering the role of scent brand name specificity on purchase intent. It also adds to work on how olfactory imagery influences purchase intention by incorporating olfactory imagery vividness. Finally, it proposes and tests an underlying cognitive mechanism to explain the relationship between scent brand names and purchase intention.

The purpose of this paper is to present the growing relevance of natural smells – both pleasant and unpleasant – to park and protected area tourism and the need for more consideration of their role in the visitor experience.

This paper presents four observations – selected via an informal review of the tourism literature – relevant to the future of smellscapes research concerning tourism in parks and protected areas.

An emerging body of literature is indicating natural smells are central to the sensory experience of parks and protected areas. The iconic nature of park smellscapes underscores their role in the tourism experience.

This paper extracts the current trends in smellscapes research relevant to park and protected area tourism. It therefore provides value to both tourism practitioners and researchers, alike, through its attempt to compile significant trends.