What happens if you release the odor of lavender into a restaurant In case
of
1. ______ a small shop in France, at least, it led to customers’
staying longer and spending more, researchers say. The researchers, whose
report appears in the current edition of
2. ______ Hospitality Management (a
journal), say the findings offer more evidence of the power that aromas
have to influence human behavior. In the past, studies have suggested, among
other things, that peppermint oil may help athletic performance and that
pleasant smells make people more collaborative and even induce them to gamble
more at casinos.
3. ______ The authors of the new
study say this is the first time when researchers have looked at
4. ______ the effect on restaurant
customers of aromas - at least, those not coming from the kitchen. In
Brittany on three Saturday evenings at a 22-seats restaurant that serves mainly
pizza, 5. ______ the
researchers released either oil of lavender, oil of lemon or nothing at all. The
scent was spread by diffusers that plugged into three electrical outlets. The
study found
6. ______ no change in customer
behavior when no scent was used or when they used lemon, considering to have
stimulating effects. Things changed, though,
7. ______ with the lavender, which is believed to make
people relax. In average,
8.
______ customers spent about 15 minutes long in the restaurant. And they
spent almost
9. ______ 4 euros more, about $5. Noting that the
findings were in with earlier research,
10. _____ the researchers wrote,
"These studies taken together support the position that scents could influence
many consumption environments."