Cowan and co-workers increase our understanding of virtual experiences. They “employ four studies using a variety of both ambient (i.e., actual scents) and imagined (i.e., prompted through description) olfactory cues in field (i.e., Facebook A/B testing), online, and laboratory settings. Our findings show . . . that in retail-centric VR environments, the presence (vs. absence) of olfactory cues heightens immersion. In turn, immersion elicits flow, which improves brand responses.”
Kirsten Cowan, Seth Ketron, Alena Kostyk, and Kirk Kristofferson. 2023. “Can You Smell the (Virtual) Roses? The Influence of Olfactory Cues in Virtual Reality on Immersion and Positive Brand Responses.” Journal of Retailing, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2023.07.004