Comparing the Effect of Imagining a Suspicious Smell in the United States and Mexico

Based on feelings-as-information theory (Schwarz, 2002), priming, and grounded cognitions (Ackerman, Nocera, & Bargh, 2010), the effect of imagining a smell on job applicants’ perception was assessed to determine if organizations should regulate overpowering smells at the workplace. Experimental surveys were conducted using a sample in the United States (US) and a sample in Mexico (MX). Participants (N(US)= 186; N(MX) = 251) were randomly assigned to read a vignette describing the presence of a smell (USA: fishy vs. fresh; MX: a locked cat vs. bleach) and MANCOVAs measured its effect on perceived trustworthiness of a hiring manager, errors in scrutiny tasks, mood, and self-disclosure. In the US, there was statistically significant interaction of Smell and Gender on Self-disclosure: Females in the fishy smell self-disclosed more than those in the fresh smell, but among men there were no differences. There was also a marginally significant effect of Smell and Gender on Errors in Scrutiny Tasks with less errors in the fishy condition among females. In MX, subjects made fewer errors in the locked cat smell (vs. bleach) condition. In both samples, the effect of a clean smell increased trustworthiness significantly, but it improved mood only among U.S. subjects. To explain the interaction, discussion includes the situated inference model, the active self-account model, and situated cognition theory.