ABSTRACT
This chapter explores ‘aroma management’ in consumption spaces, workplaces and other institutional settings, reviewing debates in architectural design, sensory marketing and the natural sciences. We argue that the biologically deterministic assumptions upon which these developments are premised silences considerations of power and ethics, and propose an alternative socio-cultural reading of these phenomena, taking our lead from sensory anthropology. We highlight the role culture plays in the creation of organizational olfactory experiences and demonstrate that olfactory design and aroma management cannot be taken as independent of either professional norms or the employee bodies that experience, negotiate and themselves contribute to organizational smellscapes.
