Our sense of smell becomes compromised by the loss of olfactory cell population as early as age 30. Marketers of products ranging from deodorants, perfumes, toothpastes, and other personal products to foods, flowers, and certain household products need to give changes to the olfactory system serious attention as the second-half population grows larger. Some food preparation firms are now chemically enhancing the aroma of foods to increase their attractiveness. While purists may object to one more chemical being added to food, it may not be such a bad idea to make eating a bit more enjoyable for residents of a nursing home, for example, by compensating for declines in the sense of smell through artificial means in order to increase the appeal of food.
The sense of smell has been shown to be more effective at inducing nostalgia than any other sense. A word or a picture harkening back to the times of childhood may not do as much for pleasant reverie as the smell of a home-baked apple pie. Think of what this might do for a prospect in a senior adult community as he or she tours the dining room or kitchen. One of the first things I noticed on my first visit to an Anthropologie store was that it was not aromatically neutral. Rather, with shocks of eucalyptus leaves and candles, I found the olfactory environment quite pleasant.