I noted it was very complex . . .
because of learning, tastes, conscious choices etc.
Holding all other things equal, I still say, recent research indicates that pheremones can be powerful contributors toward attraction related behaviors.
The article talked about some solid research. The smells triggered sexual responses--at least at the brain level and probably somewhat at the genital level.
The smells DID THAT. Smells CAN DO THAT.
The smell triggers can be ignored, amplified, distracted from, played various games with etc. But this research says that the smells trigger clear physiological brain responses in the brain area that triggers/facilitates sexual responses. That's simply true.
Smells are famous for triggering intense memories associated with those smells. That is hypothesized to be true because the nose has such a direct route to some very key brain centers. That's likely one reason that such smells as this research discusses can be so powerful
WITH CERTAIN TYPES OF PEOPLE AND PARTICULARLY SO IN CERTAIN CONTEXTS WITH CERTAIN OTHER TYPES OF PEOPLE OR THE SAME TYPES OF PEOPLE.
I don't understand what's so difficult to accept about that.
It's not quite the same thing as saying that one whiff of a homosexual stud's T-shirt and all the gays on the street are going to walk immediately across racing traffic and start humping on the sidewalk. But it's also not quite the same thing as saying that smells have no impact.