MBA8000: Business Research & Ethics - Scent Marketing Research XYZ

This research report proposes a study for the social networking site XYZ to investigate the impact of online scent marketing on users' emotional behavior. Inspired by a controversial Facebook experiment, this research aims to ethically explore how digital scent technology can influence consumer e...Read More

Running Head: APPLIED BUSINESS RESEARCH AND ETHICS
Applied Business Research and Ethics
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Letter of Transmittal
Date ___________
Address ___________
Dear Recipient,
In this research project, a research proposal has been submitted for a new company named XYZ.
The company has been requested to follow the design proposed in this research. The research is
aimed to identify how online scent marketing has an influence on the emotional behavior
different people. The major objective of this research was to provide suggestions to XYZ social
networking site to develop their working method and make the necessary changes. This will be
helpful to the social networking company XYZ so that they can induce different types influences
that are emotional ethically in the online market.
Your acceptance of the research proposal is respected.
Sincerely
Name________

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Executive Summary
In this research, a major importance has been given to the approach and the concept that has been
used by the business so that an unforgettable experience is created in the business environment
which is highly competitive. This experience which is unforgettable is obtained by creating a
desire in the mind of a customer so that they can establish any kinds of emotional connection
with different forms of senses such as vision, listening, tasting and smelling. With the help of the
connection of these senses, a separate bonding or attachment can be developed with the
particular brands or products. Satisfaction is achieved from both the business and the consumer’s
point of view which is beneficial to both of them. By developing the senses, a customer is able to
create memories and think about the product by nurturing their senses in their own way. This
helps them to remember about the product more distinctly as attachment with the particular
product will be deeper. This will be useful in appreciation of the brand image. With the increase
in the appreciation of the brand image, the sales of the products of the particular brand is
expected to increase. From previous researches published in different articles and webpages, it
has already been identified that trying to alter the emotions of the consumers by posting
differently about the brands or products on different social networking sites have resulted in
impacting the existing consumers of the particular brands in both positive as well as negative
ways. Thus, ethical conduct has been suggested to the social networking sites in order to increase
the awareness regarding the issue of influencing a customer in buying a product and forcing him
or her to create an image about the brand in their minds. In the following sections, an
introduction will be provided to the research topic followed by a review of the literature where a
summary of the findings will be provided to the research conducted by the peers. Finally,

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recommendations will be suggested to the company to control the techniques addressing the
ethical issues faced by the company in relation to the topic.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................2
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................4
2.0 Literature Review......................................................................................................................5
3.0 Research Objectives and Questions...........................................................................................7
4.0 Research Methodology..............................................................................................................7
4.1 Design of the Research..........................................................................................................7
4.2 Approach of the Research......................................................................................................8
4.3 Ethical Considerations...........................................................................................................8
5.0 Sample Unit and Sampling Methodology................................................................................10
5.1 Data Discussion...................................................................................................................10
5.2 Validity, Reliability and Limitations...................................................................................11
6.0 Conclusion and Recommendation...........................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................13

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1.0 Introduction
A Facebook experiment was conducted in the year 2014 in which the contents posted by
the users in the newsfeed of their accounts was taken into consideration. By collecting these
contents, the changes in the emotions shown by the users have been assessed. From the news
feeds of almost 700,000 users of Facebook, a company gathered information and all the details
of the positive and the negative posts posted by the users on a particular product or service. The
main aim of that project run by Facebook was that they wanted to test whether the emotional
state of the consumers can be altered. Another objective of this research was to test whether
more amount of positive or negative posts about a particular product change the views of the
consumers about that product or that brand and result in updating the newsfeed of the users with
the respective positive or negative feedbacks. The Facebook research has shown that the users
who came across more negative comments about the particular product or service have posted
comments negatively about the product in their news feed and the users who came across
positive comments about the product have posted comments positively about the particular
product or service in their news feed. This approach of the research conducted by Facebook was
highly questioned by several companies due to the ethical issues and the research design which
was extremely poor.
A new social networking site XYZ who is new to the market was greatly inspired by this
research that Facebook has conducted in 2014. This new social networking site is thus also
interested in testing the emotional state of the consumers. As the research that Facebook
conducted failed pretty badly due to the issues regarding ethics and poor research design, this
new company wants to do the research following the research ethics and by developing the
research design to a better one. Thus, instead of using the newsfeed of the users of the social

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networking site, they wanted to use the digital scent technology to develop their research design.
Thus, the social networking site XYZ was more interested to evaluate whether the differences in
the smell of the products was efficient enough to have impact on the users to update their news
feed pages. Thus, the following research has been conducted on the basis of the needs of this
new social networking site XYZ.
The research is mainly focused on how various products such as groceries, perfumes,
bakery products, accessories used at home encourages and influences the customers to buy the
products and thereby increase its sales. The concept of scent marketing is making the customer
feel the unique smell of the products by regenerating the senses in them (Eldon 2013). The
concept is similar to the concept that listening to music will enhance a customer to visit a music
store. Some examples of how scent marketing is applied to various products and services are
illustrated here. While walking by a Starbucks coffee shop, a person will be influenced by the
unique smell of caffeine along with the smell of freshly baked food and the music playing softly
in the background might be efficient enough to attract the customers to enter the shop and taste
the different flavors of coffee provided by Starbucks (Georges, Tourtoulou and Badoc 2013).
Similarly, in a retail chain of stores selling cosmetics having a fruity smell and flavor in various
crèmes, makeup wears and body lotions might be an efficient cause to attract the senses of the
customers and influences them to buy the product by impacting their brain both emotionally and
through intelligence. With this approach, a memory is created in the minds of the people which is
quite delightful and impacts the customers by creating an interest in them into experiencing the
product by buying it, so that satisfaction is achieved (Pfeffermann, Minshall and Mortara 2014).
2.0 Literature Review

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This study is a collection of the summaries of the theories that already exist and also on
the interpretations that are already published on this particular topic. The aim of this research is
mainly to evaluate different ways that can be adopted by the social networking site XYZ which
will be helpful in influencing the potential consumers emotionally to opt for the products with
the help of this online scent marketing technology (Ryan 2015). This method will be further
helpful in recognizing the different ways that are used by the users to update the pages of their
newsfeed and involve themselves emotionally in one particular product or brand of that product
(Alderson 2017). This involvement in updating the pages of the newsfeed can be both positive as
well as negative. A lot of secondary researches have already been conducted in this regard to
synthesize and interpret the results obtained from researches that have already been carried out.
Comparison between the understandings of the previous researches and revelation of the results
can be done more efficiently (Scheve and Salmella 2014). It is the responsibility of the XYZ
social networking to control the reactions or any kinds of activities that are perceived by the
individuals for the promotion of the brands.
As per the research conducted by (Henshaw 2013), the different combination of scents
when portrayed as pictures such as images of baby powder demonstrating that it has an
alleviating and distinct smell by relating it with the pictures of the flowers will impact the mother
consumers to make an impression about how it is to use the baby products. The site XYZ,
keeping in mind the end goal to make a motivation on the clients should utilize pictures which
complement the items and give a genuine involvement in framing a judgement to the client about
the item. Hence, it will modify the feelings in the correct way both for the client and friends by
expanding its deals and brand images (Scott 2017). On the opposite side, XYZ social networking
would likewise pick up a focused edge over other systems administration locales and it will pick

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up fame by not being condemned for any disrespectful alterations of client's feelings.
Furthermore, the clients will be commenting positively with more positive reviews (Berkhout,
2015).
3.0 Research Objectives and Questions
This research is mainly aimed at identifying the approaches that can be used by the social
networking site XYZ to conduct this research of testing how the application of scent technology
can affect the behavioral sensitivities of people on a psychological way. The creation of this
impact was to assess the extent to which the emotions of the users are influenced without
violating the ethical standards and avoid all kinds of consequences that are negative with regard
to privacy, confidentiality and integrity. Hence, the research question that can be framed keeping
in mind all these discussions is presented as follows:
1. Is there any impact of Scent marketing strategy adopted by different brands towards the
emotional behavior of the consumers through the XYZ social networking site?
4.0 Research Methodology
In this section of the research report, focus is mainly on the identification of different
techniques that will be addressing the research problem. A lot of different methods have been
applied for the exploration of the current issues and the questions for which answers are
necessary in order to solve the main problem of this research program.
4.1 Design of the Research
In this research, applied research design has been used. This is a type of research design
which is practiced quite widely. There are certain theories as well as knowledge that can be

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tested for the support of a particular purpose. These methods are explanatory research,
exploratory research and descriptive research studies (Rajagopal and Castano 2015). In this
report, applied research method will be applied to test the objective.
4.2 Approach of the Research
This research will be conducted with the help of qualitative research approach. The
qualitative research approach mainly deals with the insights which are identical and unique and
tries to recognize the reasons that are the cause of these insights. In this research, the qualitative
approach is used as the research question involves dealing with problems that are emotional and
altering of feelings that are on the basis of perceptions (Petersen, Person and Nash 2014).
Estimation of the extent of the emotions to be delighted or hurt is not possible. Different
literatures and ideas that are most effectively addressing the research concerns will be supporting
the research. As this is a secondary research, there will not be any results which are newly
obtained (Babin and Harris 2015). The research will mainly be based on the results that have
already been proven from previous researches and will be useful evidence for this research.
4.3 Ethical Considerations
There can be certain activities performed during the research process which are
unacceptable. These can take place at the time when the XYZ social networking site will be
conducting the research in order to find answers to the research questions or satisfy the research
objectives. To make sure such mistakes are not made, the following suggestions are to be
followed. Sampling methods and sampling techniques are necessary for this research report as
this is a secondary research study. Help of observations, surveys, interviews, etc. are required
only when primary research is conducted (Riva, Wiederhold and Cipresso 2015). Here, the

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research will mainly be based on previous researches, theories and beliefs which are available in
published format from authors that are renowned. Thus, the issues that has to be kept in mind so
that no unacceptable mistakes like Facebook did in the year 2014 are made has been discussed as
follows:
 The participants participating in this study must be ensured of their privacy. Otherwise,
the ethical conduct of the XYZ social networking site would be put under question.
 Confidentiality of the information must be ensured especially to the participants the
views of whom are changing due to this online scent marketing.
 At the time of revealing any particular information about any particular product to the
users, honesty should be maintained. The wrong information about any product should
not be shared with any participant to forcefully make him or her change their decisions
(Pelosi 2016).
 Deception of the implications could be had on the participants’ emotions.
 There should not be any discrimination at the time of promoting any particular product or
brand through the XYZ social networking site. If discrimination happens, the
psychological factors of the human minds start to impact their decisions which will not be
effective for the study.
 Storage of data is extremely important and it has to be kept in mind that the data used for
one study might also be helpful for some other related studies. Thus, the data should not
be disposed of after completion of the research and must be stored securely (Edmonds
and Kennedy 2016).

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 The framing of the research proposal at the beginning of the research must be clear and
coherent. The researcher will have a clear idea of the research area on which he or she
has to work on.
 This research will be conducted on a social networking site. Thus, the responses obtained
will be changing each day and hence, it is important to monitor the data collection quite
strictly and regularly.
5.0 Sample Unit and Sampling Methodology
The social networking site XYZ will be conducting this study. The target population for
this study will be all the population of the country. There are only two possible outcomes to the
experiment. Either the decision perceived by the people of the country can be altered with the
implication of the scent technology or it cannot be altered. But it is not possible to study
individually the total population of the country. Thus arises the need of sampling (Song 2016). A
questionnaire containing questions about all the necessary information required for the study can
be prepared and made available through the social networking site XYZ. The people visiting the
website will gain access to filling up the questionnaire and as soon as the required number of
responses are achieved, the data can be put to analysis. Unlike the experiment conducted by
Facebook, it will not be possible for the participants to watch the comments posted by others and
alter their minds. Thus, the data collected will be authentic.
5.1 Data Discussion
This method of data collection for the purpose of the study is known as collection of
primary data and this data collection process is expected to be useful. To conduct the research,
two major questions has to be kept in mind:

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 Whether the visitor of the site purchase the product.
 Does the advertisement regarding the scent of the product influence the visitor to
purchase the product?
The hypothesis of the research study can be framed with the help of these two variables.
With the help of a regression analysis, the impact that scent technology is having on the intensity
to purchase a product by a user can be established. The coefficient of determination or the R
Square value obtained as a result of regression will be able to establish the percentage of the
influence that scent technology will be having on the intensity to purchase a product by a user
(Cameron 2013). The significance of the relationship between the purchasing intention of the
people affected and not affected by the use of scent technology can be established with the help
of ANOVA. The value of the F-statistic from the ANOVA table will be used to conclude the
result (Cameron 2013).
5.2 Validity, Reliability and Limitations
The reliability and the validity of the data has to be checked before running any research
and interpreting the results. The results obtained from a data which is unreliable will not be
proper representation of the population and the results so obtained will also be unreliable. Thus,
conclusions drawn from analysis of unreliable data will result in bad predictions. Hence to test
the validity and the reliability of the data, Cronbach’s test of reliability is usually conducted. The
value of Cronbach’s alpha obtained from the test indicates the reliability of the data. The closer
the value of Cronbach’s alpha to 1, the more reliable the data is (Stieler 2017). In this case, it can
be expected that the collected data will be reliable as the customers will be sharing their very
own views and their views are not manipulated by any other factors.

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However, this research study framed is not perfect and there are certain limitations to this
design as well. The updates can be made by the participants at any time of the day and the timing
of the updates cannot be controlled. If the updates are made public by some participant, then it
will not take much time for the method to be outdated. Nobody will have any control over
explaining the questionnaire to the participants. Thus, the questionnaire must be designed in an
easy and simple manner so that it can be understood easily by the participants (Tettegah 2016).
The ethical practices have to be kept in mind with the highest priority so that the trust of the
users of the XYZ social networking site can trust the site.
6.0 Conclusion and Recommendation
This research proposal will provide XYZ with some ideas that can be implemented for
the betterment of the users’ perception of products and brands. With the achievement of the
convincing the participants, sustainability in the market can be achieved quite easily. Some
factors are important for the social networking site XYZ to keep in mind. The participants’
behavior should not be affected offensively. To do this, the participant must be offered sufficient
time to understand the attempt that XYZ is going to take. Further, the users must not have the
feeling that they are manipulated with the introduction of all the new methods.

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References
Alderson, M. 2017. The Scent of You.US: HarperCollins, p.1.
Babin, B. J., and Harris, E. 2015.CB7. US: Cengage Learning, p. 7.
Berkhout, Constant. 2015. Retail Marketing Strategy: Delivering Shopper Delight. UK: Kogan
Page Publishers, p. 7.
Bradford, S., and Cullen, F. 2013. Research and Research Methods for Youth Practitioners. UK:
Routledge.
Cameron, A.C. and Trivedi, P.K., 2013. Regression analysis of count data (Vol. 53). Cambridge
university press.
Edmonds, W.A. and Kennedy, T.D., 2016. An Applied Guide to Research Designs: Quantitative,
Qualitative, and Mixed Methods. Sage Publications.
Eldon, L. 2013. Organizations and Social Networking: Utilizing Social Media to Engage
Consumers: Utilizing Social Media to Engage Consumers. US: IGI Global.
Georges, P.M., Tourtoulou, A. B., and Badoc, M. 2013.Neuromarketing in Action: How to Talk
and Sell to the Brain. UK: Kogan Page Publishers, pp. 9-12.
Henshaw, V. 2013.Urban Smellscapes: Understanding and Designing City Smell Environments.
UK: Routledge.
Pelosi, P. 2016. On the Scent: A Journey Through the Science of Smell. UK: Oxford University
Press, pp. 5-6.

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Petersen, L. B., Person, R., and Nash, C. 2014. Connect: How to Use Data and Experience
Marketing to Create Lifetime Customers. US: John Wiley & Sons, p. 176.
Pfeffermann, N., Minshall, T., and Mortara, L. 2014.Strategy and Communication for
Innovation. Germany: Springer Science & Business Media, pp. 195- 200.
Rajagopal and Castano, R. 2015. Understanding Consumer Behavior and Consumption
Experience. US: IGI Global, pp. 2-3.
Riva, G., Wiederhold, B. K., and Cipresso, P. 2015. The Psychology of Social Networking Vol.1:
Personal Experience in Online Communities. Germany: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG, pp.
4-5.
Ryan, D. 2015. Understanding Social Media: How to Create a Plan for Your Business that
Works.UK: Kogan Page Publishers, pp. 227-232.
Scheve, C. V., and Salmella, M. 2014. Collective Emotions: Perspectives from psychology,
philosophy, and sociology. UK: OUP Oxford.
Scott, D. M. 2017. The New Rules of Marketing and PR: How to Use Social Media, Online
Video, Mobile Applications, Blogs, News Releases, and Viral Marketing to Reach Buyers
Directly. US: John Wiley & Sons.
Song, A. 2016.Capture Your Style: Transform Your Instagram Images, Showcase Your Life, and
Build the Ultimate Platform. US: Abrams.
Stieler, M. 2017. Creating Marketing Magic and Innovative Future Marketing Trends:
Proceedings of the 2016 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual Conference. Germany:
Springer.

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Tettegah, S. 2016. Emotions, Technology, and Social Media. US: Academic Press, p.4.