Common Scents Economics
Something’s Fishy: A Lesson on Market Structure and Collusion in the Canned Tuna Market (Flesher)
October 15, 2025Economic Lessons in Taylor Swift’s Lyrics (King, DeWind, Rousu, & Wooten)
October 29, 2025Teaching externalities is challenging due to their abstract nature and students’ difficulty grasping market failure and corrective policies. In this paper, we present a novel way to teach externalities using several different scents. This paper builds on the research of Gagarina and Pikturnienė (2015), and Chebat and Michon (2003) who have explored how ambient scents can influence decision-making, and consumer purchasing behavior, respectively. Using three immersive classroom experiences, we cover the entire range of externalities: negative, positive, and inframarginal. Instructors can use each lesson plan independently or combine all three to create a truly memorable learning experience.
by Wayne Geerling, Katherine K. Grooms, and G. Dirk Mateer
Geerling, W., Grooms, K., & Mateer, G. D. (2025). Common Scents Economics. Available online at Journal of Economics Teaching, DOI: 10.58311/jeconteach/a88600d17af204ed018418491d5435a5be239ab8
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