Multi-Sensory Stands: Scent, Sound, Touch and Taste
In a study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Aradhna Krishna, May Lwin and Maureen Morrin found that when a pencil or a facial tissue carried a scent, recall of the brand’s other attributes rose significantly, with the effect lasting as much as two weeks. That is roughly the window between a show and the follow-up calls that decide whether leads become business, which makes the senses beyond sight worth a slice of the budget.
Put the scent on the product
The same study found product scent more effective than ambient scent at enhancing memory, because the associations attach to one object rather than spreading across a room. At Milan Design Week 2026, Villeroy & Boch and Ideal Standard staged Design Continuum with the agency Elastique: five installations combining light, projection, texture and scent, including a darkened, fragranced room called Vea. At Clerkenwell Design Week 2026, Iris Ceramica Group launched its first fragrance, made with the Rome perfumery Campomarzio70, and gave it four olfactory stations in its London showroom.
Small-stand version: Scent a sample, a swatch or a takeaway card rather than the aisle, and check the organiser’s rules before plugging in a diffuser. A smell that drifts onto a neighbouring stand is a complaint waiting to happen.
Sound that stays on the stand
Loudspeakers fight the hall and irritate neighbours; headphones avoid both. Around MWC 2026, Samsung ran Galaxy sound immersion sessions at the W Barcelona using Galaxy Buds4 Pro, adding citrus aromas, herbal tea and Mediterranean food to different sessions. In Milan, ALMA WATER and Sara Ricciardi Studio took the opposite approach with The Room of the Sea, handing visitors sea drums to play together so the sound became something people made rather than received.
Small-stand version: Two or three pairs of wireless headphones on a short loop, or a directional speaker aimed at a single seat, give a stand its own soundtrack without adding to the hall’s noise.
Touch, taste and temperature
Touch is the cheapest sense to design for. In the Artis Sense room at Design Continuum, visitors rotated ribbed basin objects to change the projections around them, so handling the product became the show. Temperature follows from material: stone, metal, timber and felt all feel different under the hand, and a counter that is cool or warm to lean on says something before anyone speaks.
Taste needs the most paperwork. ExCeL London’s 2025 sampling guidelines require written approval from the venue’s food and beverage team, with organisers listing sampling stands at least 28 days before the event. Food must be bite sized and served in single units; soft and hot drinks are capped at 50ml, wine at 25ml and spirits at 5ml. Allergen information, food hygiene certificates and Natasha’s Law labelling are all expected.
Small-stand version: Choose one material visitors are invited to handle, and if you plan to sample, start the venue paperwork when you book the space.
Make the senses agree
More senses are not automatically better. Eric Spangenberg, Bianca Grohmann and David Sprott found that a Christmas scent paired with Christmas music produced higher desirability ratings in a retail setting, while the same scent with non-Christmas music was off-putting. “This idea of congruency is powerful,” Sprott said. For a stand, scent, sound, material and refreshments should tell one story. The kit is getting more precise too: at ISE 2026, ScentXP discussed codamizers that diffuse perfume as alcohol-free air, so people can sample several fragrances without overwhelming their noses.
Small-stand version: Pick one idea and express it through two senses, such as a citrus scent and a citrus drink, rather than five unrelated effects.
The senses are easiest to get right at the design stage, when sampling counters, headphone points and tactile finishes can be drawn in rather than bolted on; our piece on calm, quiet spaces covers the acoustic side. Stand Between introduces exhibitors to vetted stand builders who plan this from the first sketch. If you have a show coming up, get in touch.
