The Pumpkin Spice Latte is the #1 selling drink at Starbucks, steaming up $80 million dollars a year in sales. Since its introduction in 2003, about 200 million pumpkin spice lattes have been served.
The popularity helped fuel the pumpkin spice craze that has become a $500 million dollar industry, with the flavor infused in everything from breakfast cereals to yogurts to pizza crusts.
Yet it isn’t the flavor alone that drives consumers mad over pumpkin spice products. It’s the scent, and the psychological associations that go along with it.
These products are deliberately crafted to trigger emotions. Pumpkin spice scents are associated with family gatherings, comfort and relaxation. It conjures up warm memories of tradition and nostalgia.
Here’s what Catherine Franssen, director of neurostudies at Longwood University, said about pumpkin spice in a recent Forbes article:
“Since these are popular spice combinations, it's very likely we would have encountered them in a favorite baked good or comforting situation early in life. It's not just the pumpkin spice combo, but the fact that we've already wired those spices as 'good' very early in life.”
In our prior blog post, we talked about emotions in real estate, and what a large role they play in the decision process of buying or selling a home. So could a pumpkin spice scent help sell a home? Odds are, yes, it could. At least during the autumn months.
After all, a scent that brings pleasant emotions, moods and memories to life – even if subconsciously – is a powerful marketing aid. Just ask Starbucks. And it doesn’t take much to make the connection between these impulses and our feelings for home and hearth.
We’re not suggesting that a pumpkin spice aroma will cause buyers to forgive a property’s flaws. But it might create an emotional interest in a home for sale, and get buyers to linger a little longer.
What do you think? Let us know!
Bonita Breit
Copywriting & Marketing Specialist
RealSupport, Inc.
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