The Power of Suggestibility By Hunter Rae Goodbeau 3-14-2013
When 20 people were asked if the object smelled like apple cider, there were more people who thought it didn’t.
The rest of the people surveyed were asked to smell the lip gloss, with a suggestion of what it smelt like introduced.
Does this smell like apple cider? Yes No IIII IIII - 8 IIII IIII IIII –12
Does this unlabeled lip gloss smell like apple cider to you Does this unlabeled lip gloss smell like apple cider to you? In my opinion it smells like plastic. Apple Cider Plastic Other IIII - 4 IIII IIII - 8 IIII IIII IIII - 12
The rest of the charts Paraffin (Wax) I -1 Rubber I – 1 Licorice IIII II -6 Acetone IIII I -5 Old Money II -2 Sweat Citrus/Zest III -3 Mint Apples Alcohol
In conclusion The perception of smell can be influenced by suggestion, especially when the object has many people thinking that it doesn’t smell like what it’s supposed to.