Research Finds Pleasant Odors Spur Gambling

LAS VEGAS —  Something smelly was going on when revenues suddenly jumped 45% one weekend last year on a group of slot machines at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Actually, it was something that smelled that may have prompted gamblers to keep pumping coins into the one-armed bandits.

A Chicago researcher says pleasant odors piped into a portion of the cavernous casino apparently induced gamblers to stay longer and spend more money than they might have in an unscented casino.

The finding, said Dr. Alan Hirsch, may eventually open the way for casinos to use odors the same way they now use bright lights and plush surroundings to win more money from gamblers.

“It is quite possible that, within the next few years, the use of odorants as a gambling incentive will be as common as the neon lights in the streets of Las Vegas,” Hirsch said.

Hirsch, a neurologist who directs the Smell & Taste Treatment & Research Foundation in Chicago, claimed the study as the most significant so far involving the use of odors to modify human behavior.

With the cooperation of Hilton officials, Hirsch piped one odor into an area of 18 slot machines and a second odor into a separate area across the casino that contained 28 different machines. A third area with 22 machines was left unscented as a control area.

During the 48-hour test conducted over a weekend in October, gamblers dropped 45.11% more money into the machines with the first scent than they did during the weekends immediately preceding and following the test period.

Money gambled in the control area remained constant, as did money gambled in the area where the second, different odor, was piped in.

“We tested two pleasant odors,” Hirsch said. “One had a positive effect, one had no effect. It suggests you need not just a good odor but one that is very specific to cause this effect.”

Hirsch declined to say what the specific odor was, other than being a “pleasant odorant.”