Is anticipation delicious? Visceral factors as mediators of the effect of olfactory cues on purchase intentions

In examining the way olfactory cues influence consumer behavior, this paper pays special attention to the crucial role of visceral factors — generally defined as ‘hot’ overwhelming urges driven by sexual lust, thirst, or hunger. Our investigation is limited to hunger driven visceral impulses, which we call ‘appetitive motivational drive states’. The results indicate that food aroma indirectly influences purchase intentions through the mediation of appetitive drive states such as taste anticipation, subjective expected pleasure, and taste enjoyment. Structural equation modeling demonstrated that food aroma as the predictor variable first activates taste anticipation, which plays a pivotal role in stimulating both subjective expected pleasure and taste enjoyment. Implications for marketing theory and industry practice are also discussed in light of the fact that visceral states can exert an unwelcome influence on purchase intentions and eating behavior.