The impact of coffee-like scent on expectations and performance

The present research explores the effect of an ambient coffee-like scent (versus no scent) on expectations regarding performance on an analytical reasoning task as well as on actual performance. We show that people in a coffee-scented (versus unscented) environment perform better on an analytical re...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of environmental psychology 2018-06, Vol.57, p.83-86
Main Authors: Madzharov, Adriana, Ye, Ning, Morrin, Maureen, Block, Lauren
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Coffee-like scent
Olfaction
Placebo effects
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Summary:The present research explores the effect of an ambient coffee-like scent (versus no scent) on expectations regarding performance on an analytical reasoning task as well as on actual performance. We show that people in a coffee-scented (versus unscented) environment perform better on an analytical reasoning task due to heightened performance expectations (Study 1). We further show that people expect that being in a coffee-scented environment will increase their performance because they expect it will increase their physiological arousal level (Study 2). Our results thus demonstrate that a coffee-like scent (which actually contains no caffeine) can elicit a placebo effect. •An ambient coffee-like scent improved performance on an analytical reasoning task.•The scent created higher performance expectations.•Expectations about alertness are also associated with the scent.•An ambient coffee-like scent had a placebo effect on behavior.
ISSN:0272-4944
1522-9610
DOI:10.1016/j.jenvp.2018.04.001