The sense of smell was crucial to early humans. They used it to avoid dangers and to track food. Today, our noses still help us detect a fire or leaking gas or spoiled food, but we no longer need them for survival. Yet smell is still very important to us.
It is strongly connected to our memory and our emotions. A long-forgotten smell can bring back the memory and the feelings of an event that happened years ago. The yeasty aroma of baking bread may recall a host of happy memories of grandma’s kitchen, while a whiff of hot coffee may arouse painful recollections of an accidental childhood burn.
Our emotional connection with odors is super strong. It’s so strong that smell is often used to sell products. Used-car sellers may spray cans of new-car smell to enhance their goods. Realtors have been known to spray a house they want to sell with cake-baking smells. And some shopping malls release an artificial pizza scent to lure shoppers into mall restaurants.
