Wait, let me smell it first!!

              The first blog for consumer behaviour and I am writing about smelling a product, typical. As I mentioned in the previous post I will always be described as the  “ultimate consumer” by almost all of my friends and family. Product placement, design, smell, feels, they will all get to me when making purchases. However, by far the most important aspect of my purchases and the overall draw towards the product will be the smell.

            Before I begin discussing my obsession over smell of things I should give you a bit of background behind perceptions and sensations. Sensation is the basic reaction to reactors around us. Sensations are picked up by our senses for example, hearing, touching, smelling, through basic stimuli like light and colour. Then our sensory inputs categorize them to the corresponding body part; light --> sight --> eyes or texture --> touch --> hands. 

           While our sensations are the reactions to different stimuli, our perception is the means to which our body will process the sensations that our body has selected and interpret them. Our perception is what we take from the raw senses that are around us; they determine which senses and stimuli we pick up and how we will interpret them further. 

            So for me, in terms of taste, I know what I like and what I don't like other then that please refrain from asking me what is savoury or moist and what seasonings I can taste. I am also slightly deaf from having my earphones in at all times at the highest setting therefore my hearing will not pick up much. My sense of touch is slightly more sensitive however I really do not like people and things in my space. However with smells, I am just drawn to them, a good smelling car, food, product or man will easily get my attention and hold it. The same goes for the bad smells, my body will find any way to avoid them. Therefore, based on the two definitions above, my body has a high reaction and filter for the sense of smell. 

          The most alluring smell will always be that of a man. A guy with the right smell will go a long way! First and foremost this tells the girl that the guys showers, which is always a very big plus!! A man who smells good is someone who knows how to take care of themselves, and this may not always be right but a good smell can certainly give that type of aura! A mans scent can defiantly trigger a woman's perception. Instead of a woman asking herself if the guy in front of her is a man or a boy? Successful or lazy? Classy or a total slob?, they can begin to categorize them based on their smell. 

            For example guys wearing Hugo Boss or Givenchy cologne give off the aura of success, business man and someone who knows what they want in life. The scent of these colognes varies, some might be a little fruitier or sweeter while others tend to use spice leaves mixed with citrus or some scents are even more "woodsy" almost. While higher class brands smell like success, the scent of spray deodorant reeks of a manly man, like AXE. Okay, so AXE is an interesting example because either women love it or hate it and I am one of those women who loves it therefore I am sticking to my example and opinion. AXE successfully marked themselves as the musky scent that all the lady's want. The boy wearing AXE is the average guy, the one who cannot afford the high end brands but still wants to smell attractive or just got out of the gym and needed a quick deodorant or maybe they're still in high school and are just looking to attract the ladies. Either way this scent lives up to it standards and certainly knows how to get the attention of the ladies. 

        Therefore to end off I have attached one of the infamous ladykiller advertisements that AXE uses to market their product. In this advertisement, AXE's new fragrance causes even Angels to give up their goodness for the man with the right scent. Enjoy ;)