There’s some research to suggest that
newborns develop preferences for specific stimuli when they’re in the womb. For
instance, a study from Queen’s University found that babies are partial to
theme songs that their pregnant mothers frequently listened to. Among other
reactions, when hearing the theme song, the babies seemed more alert, stopped
squirming and exhibited a decreased heart rate. When listening to new tunes,
the babies didn’t show any reactions.
An Asian mall chain wanted to
increase sales among pregnant women and started performing various stealthy
strategies to prime these consumers to buy. They sprayed Johnson & Johnson
baby powder in stores that sold clothes; they sprayed a cherry scent in spots
that sold food. And in order to stir up positive emotions and memories, they
played calming music dating back to when the women were born.
Sales did increase, but
something even more fascinating happened: A year after the experiment, mothers
sent a litany of letters to the mall telling them that their newborns were
soothed when entering the shopping mall. Writes Lindstrom: “If they were
fussing and crying, they simmered down at once, an effect that 60 percent of
these women claimed they’d experienced nowhere else, not even places where they
were exposed to equally pleasant smells and sounds.”
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