It’s beginning to smell a lot like Christmas. Pine, cinnamon, gingerbread, mulled wine, roasting chestnuts – all the sensory cues that strap us to the mast of seasonal nostalgia. Retailers, hoping to nudge us toward purchase, will mist us with the stuff, through HVAC systems and scent diffusers, but stores often deploy scent and other “peripheral cues” rather clumsily: If it smells “good,” the thinking goes, it will prompt people to buy. In truth, it’s not quite so simple. Or, rather, it may not be simple enough. Researchers at Washington State University who studied the connection between scents and sales are finding that the makeup of the scent – its simplicity, not its pleasantness or its nostalgic power – seems to be the crucial factor in getting people to buy more/Shawn Vestal, SR. More here.

Question: Which smell is your favorite Christmas one?