Shop and Smell the Roses

Shoppers — actually 689 West Chester University students engaged in a shopping experiment — underestimated the amount of time they spent shopping by 26% when exposed to the pleasant aromas of clementine and vanilla. They overestimated it by 40% when the room smelled of galbanum, a vile aroma that reminded the professor, Jack Gault, of a combination of skunk and rancid oil.