Aromas at Woodland Mall

Reactions to the Bread!

     I was very happy with the way our Focaccia bread turned out. I have taste many other Focaccia breads before so I was hoping that it would turn out similar to one of those types of bread. Our bread was actually my favorite one of the day. I was crispy and the hint of olive oil really added a lot of flavor. My second favorite bread was the potato bread that one group made. The texture of the bread was very hearty and sweet. It tasted a bit like sour dough bread, but with not as much of a kick. I also really liked the whole wheat bread that one group made. This was extremely hearty and had a fantastic texture. It also tasted a little bit sweet. Overall, though I really liked the texture and olive oil taste of our Focaccia bread.

Tuesday January 18, 2011: Aroma Marketing at Woodland Mall

The following is my reactions after our day at the mall. I chose to simply answer all the questions based on the stores that I entered.

Food Court
     The first smell that I was overwhelmed with upon entering the mall was the food court. When I opened the doors of Woodland Mall, I was overcome by a mix of food smells. The smells of fried food, pretzels, and grilling meat filled the air. It was definitely a pleasant smell and made my mouth water.

American Eagle
     There was a pleasant smell when entering this store. It was not an overwhelming smell, but rather a smell of light cologne or perfume. The smell was rather gender neutral. It simply smelled like fresh, new clothes. The smell was directly related to the stores in that it smelled like new, fresh clothes. I did not really find this type of aroma in other stores. The aroma seemed to be unique to this particular store. The aroma seemed to be uniform throughout the store. However, it was a little more potent at the entrance to the store but that is most likely because I had gotten used to it by the back of the store. When we asked an employee about the scent, she said they often spray their clothes with perfume in order to make the store smell as it does. The music playing was a light rock type that was simply playing lightly in the background. It did not seem to overwhelm the shopper and was merely adding to the shopping experience. The store also appealed to my senses in that it was well lit and extremely organized. Since the store was free of clutter and the clothes were perfectly displayed, the store was extremely pleasing to the eye. I was much more likely to look around and buy something because of the open layout of the store.

Buckle
     This store was laid out very similarly to American Eagle. There was not a distinct smell when I entered this store. There did not seem to be different aromas as I moved throughout the store either. However, there was relaxed rock music playing. Again, the music was not overwhelming it was simply in the background. The store also appealed to my senses in that it was very well lit and extremely organized. An employee stated that they had just replaced the carpet which looked very appealing. Some other parts of the store that related back to the videos was how the outfits were displayed. There were many complete outfits hanging throughout the store. This entices the buyer to not only buy a certain item; it draws the consumer to buy the entire outfit. Since the outfits are so nicely put together, the buyer feels inclined to buy all the pieces.

Charlotte Russe
     This store was extremely pleasing to the eye. There was not a distinct smell upon entering this store. The main marketing involved in this store was the eye appeal. The music was again just a light background melody. The store was also very free of clutter and really highlighted the clothes. The lights seemed to shine right on the clothes and there were a lot of mannequin displays. The store seemed to really show off the clothes and highlight the outfits on display.

Yankee Doodle Candle Company
      The smell of this store was extremely pleasant, but was rather overwhelming. Upon entering the store I smelled a mixture of apple and cinnamon. However, as I walked over to different types of candles The store was also playing Blink 182 music throughout the entire time I was at the store, which was rather surprising to me considering the type of store it was. The store was also visually pleasing because it was completely organized by color. Not only did the candles smell delicious, they were lovely colors as well. The store was also rather simple as if to simply highlight the candles. The store in it of itself was extremely bland as if it did not want to detract from the product.

Victoria’s Secret
     This store had simply a light smell to it, almost like a mild baby powder smell. This aroma was most likely contributed to by the cosmetic and lotion sections of the store. This aroma was a little more intense at the beginning of the store, but seemed to dissipate as we moved throughout the store. However, the main attraction of this store was the visual aspect. When we entered we were overwhelmed by neon colored clothing organized by color. The colors seemed to almost blind us as we walked in and attracted us to every corner of the store. There were also large posters of women in lingerie which also entices the buyer inside. The clothes themselves were not that extravagant, but the colors were outrageously vibrant. The music even added to the experience. There was loud, “girl-power” type music playing throughout our entire time at the store.

Williams-Sonoma
     This store also had a very distinct, pleasant aroma upon entering. It smelled like someone was cooking. It resembled the smell of spices and fresh vegetables. However, we seemed to get used to the aroma right away and it seemed to dissipate as we moved throughout the store. We walked up to the middle of the store to find an employee making an onion dish on the stove. She said they are required to make a dish on the stove each day and often have samples for consumers to taste. She stated that Williams-Sonoma was “Big on the Senses”. The music in this store was extremely soothing and was only playing lightly in the background. The store was also visually appealing. All the cookware was shiny and looked extremely new. There was also crystal displayed in elaborate cabinetry. The products were also arranged in such a way that one would have all they needed for one recipe in one spot. For example, all the ingredients for making popcorn were displayed in one area. This made shopping efficient and easy for the customer.

Tradehome
     This was a shoe store and upon entering the store, I was overcome with the smell of leather. This is contributed to because of the leather from the various types of shoes. This smell was fairly strong and seemed to linger throughout the store. However, this store was not as visually pleasing. The store looked more cluttered and shoes were covering every surface of the walls. This store did not try to draw the consumer in with flashy colors or elaborate displays. It seemed more practical and conducive to simply displaying shoes. However, there were big, yellow sales tags on some of the shoes that make it easy for consumers to recognize the deals. There was also very quiet music playing in the background.

The Body Shop
     This store had the most pleasant aroma of all the stores I entered today. I very much expected this store to smell as it did because it is a cosmetic store. It smelled like fresh fruits and vanilla combined. The smell was very feminine and is obviously because of the various types of lotion and body sprays in the store. It seemed that each place I turned to had a different fruity smell to it. The store also appealed to vision by being perfectly organized. All the lotions were perfectly arranged and stacked. The products were all organized by color and seemed to all fit together like a puzzle. In terms of the senses, this was my favorite store I entered during the day.

Hollister
     The smell of this store was extremely overwhelming. I could smell the store from several steps away from the entrance. It smelled like men’s cologne and was completely overpowering. The smell seemed to linger throughout the entire store and was inescapable. The music was also extremely loud. It seemed to be the loudest music we encountered in any store during the day. The entire store was not very appealing to my senses. It did not make me want to buy anything. The atmosphere was almost suffocating and the lighting was extremely dark. I found it difficult to read my notes and did not really focus at all on the clothes. It seemed that they were selling the name brand and the idea of the clothes rather than the actually clothes. The clothes were extremely secondary and in fact not even that exciting. The idea and the smells seemed to most significantly attract the people to the store.

     After also visiting Pac Sun, Forever 21, Banana Republic, and Aeropostale I was able to see a lot of themes. It seemed that the clothing stores had more aromas of perfumes and colognes, whereas the food and cosmetics stores more resembled their products. Also, almost all of the stores seemed to play light rock music. The music was usually not overpowering, but simply acted as a background sound. I was surprised that about half of the stores seemed to have no distinct smell. Surprisingly, many of the female stores seemed to lack a smell, as opposed to the unisex stores which seemed to have the smell of perfume and cologne.

     Also, I notice that the overall mall seemed very conducive to buying. There were high ceilings that almost looked majestic. It was very open and airy and gives the consumer an almost futuristic feel. I also noticed that the jewelry stores were all at the center of the mall. They all also seemed to be right near each other. This may be because this makes the jewelry stores less prone to theft and also to encourage healthy competition. I think that stores having pleasant smells do encourage people to buy stuff. I think that if there are more pleasant smells people will be more enticed to enter and thus also buy something. I think that it also provides a more pleasant and enjoyable atmosphere for the consumer. However, if the scent is overpowering, it can be bad for business. For me, a store like Hollister was too much and I couldn’t wait to leave!