Scent research has focused primarily on the effects of ambient scent on consumer evaluations. We focus instead on the effects of product scent on consumer memories. For instance, if a pencil or a facial tissue is imbued with scent (vs. not), recall for the brand’s other attributes increases significantly—with the effects lasting as much as 2 weeks after exposure. We also find that product scent...

Previous studies have shown that individuals responded preferentially to the mark of the top-scent donor relative to that of the bottom-scent donor of an over-mark. However, terrestrial mammals are likely to encounter over-marks consisting of the scent marks of more than two same-sex conspecifics in the intersections of runways, near the nests of sexually receptive female conspecifics, and insi...

Dominance hierarchies are ubiquitous in social species and serve to organize social systems. Social and sexual status is communicated directly among animals via sensory systems evolved in the particular species. Such signals may be chemical, visual, auditory, postural or a combination of signals. In most species, status is initially established through physical conflict between individuals that...

Male mammals show rapid behavioral and hormonal responses to signals from sexually receptive females. However, rapid endocrine responses to female signals have not been observed in a nonhuman primate. Here, we tested the behavioral and hormonal response of male common marmosets (Callithrix jacchus) to isolated scent secretions from ovulatory females or to vehicle control scent. Fifteen males we...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Studies of floral scent evolution often attribute variation in floral scent to differences in pollinator behaviour, ignoring the potential for shared biochemistry between floral scent and floral colour to dictate patterns of phenotypic variation in scent production. To determine the relative effects of shared biochemistry and/or localized population-level phenomena on floral...

Particular features of the signaling characteristics of the scent marks of temperate-zone, seasonally breeding mammals may reflect differences in their reproductive state and, hence, be variable. Consequently, an individual's perception of self may depend more on the condition independent than on the condition-dependent signaling characteristics of the scent marks. Yet, we do not know whether a...

Males of many species produce scent marks and other olfactory signals that function to intimidate rivals and attract females. It has been suggested that scent marks provide an honest, cheat-proof display of an individual’s health and condition. Here we report several findings that address this hypothesis in wild-derived house mice (Mus musculus domesticus). (1) We exposed males to female odor, ...

Bumblebees secrete a substance from their tarsi wherever they land, which can be detected by conspecifics. These secretions are referred to as scent-marks, which bumblebees are able to use as social cues. Although it has been found that bumblebees can detect and associate scent-marks with rewarding or unrewarding flowers, their ability at discriminating between scent-marks from bumblebees of di...

Ground squirrels (Spermophilus spp.) have evolved a battery of defences against the rattlesnakes (Crotalus spp.) that have preyed on them for millions of years. The distinctive behavioural reactions by these squirrels to rattlesnakes have recently been shown to include self-application of rattlesnake scent-squirrels apply scent by vigorously licking their fur after chewing on shed rattlesnake s...

Can scents evoke nostalgia; what might be the psychological implications of such an evocation? Participants sampled 12 scents and rated the extent to which each scent was familiar, arousing and autobiographically relevant, as well as the extent to which each scent elicited nostalgia. Participants who were high (compared to low) in nostalgia proneness reported more scent-evoked nostalgia, and sc...