The smell of success? Research reveals how scent can improve gaming prowess

Ahead of the League of Legends Grand Finals this November and a number of new game releases hitting shelves in the lead up to Christmas, iconic deodorant brand, Lynx has conducted an experiment with the help of four world renowned streamers, RossBoomSocks, Robertocein, Xchocobars and Lpgjustjohnny. They test the theory that wearing Lynx body spray increased confidence1, therefore could potentially impact overall gaming ability by up to 0.1%2.

Having an extra 0.1% ability above competitors can be all you need to break world records, as Olympic sprinter, Usain Bolt revealed when he was just 0.1 seconds away from becoming the fastest human being to run the 100 meters3. The 0.1% Effect experiment reveals how gamers can level up and climb the leadership board with a few simple sprays of their favourite Lynx product.

The 0.1% Effect experiment was conducted by partnering with renowned gamers from the U.K, U.S, Mexico, and Germany. Each participant received their own 0.1% kit ahead of the experiment, which included a monitoring band and Lynx body spray. The experiment was conducted in two phases – phase 1 being the control where the participants play without using Lynx, and phase 2 being conducted with participants using Lynx. Upon completion, we recorded the participants’ vitals and their changes between each phase.

Ultimately, there was a slight uplift in performance detected, roughly aggregated to 0.1%, across the four participants but could 0.1% potentially be the difference between winning and losing? To further test the 0.1% theory Lynx will now widen the sample size by inviting additional gamers within select markets to experience the confidence boosting properties of Lynx for themselves. Additionally, anyone can learn how to conduct their own experiment at home by visiting www.the01effect.com for instructions. To better understand these results, Lynx teamed up with a world-renowned expert on the psychological science of smell, Dr. Rachel Herz, who is a neuroscientist, TEDx speaker, and published author of both books and numerous research publications.

Dr. Rachel Herz has said: “I am not at all surprised to see that Lynx had a positive effect on two of the subject’s performance. Scents have the ability to alter our emotions and moods more than any other sensory experience. This is because of the unique connection in the brain where scent, emotion, memories and associations are processed.”

“Lynx was designed to make young people look, feel and smell their best and through our 0.1% Effect experiment, we explored whether it could even help them game at their best,” said Joshua Plimmer, Senior Brand Manager at Lynx “As an Official Partner of League of Legends, we collaborated with notable League of Legends streamers to test the theory that smelling good can impact confidence and in turn, game play.”