We know that the fragrance of both personal care products and household products is extremely important in “selling” the product to consumers. Anecdotally, some believe that up to 80% of consumer acceptability for a product can be attributed to the appeal of the fragrance. Developers have been heard to say that it is easier to sell a poor shampoo with a highly acceptable fragrance than a technically good shampoo with a less acceptable fragrance.
So, getting the fragrance right is really important. Welcome to the tough, tough world of fragrance assessment by consumers. Why is it so tough? The sense of smell or aroma is
one of our most primitive senses in that it is hardwired into a relative primitive area of the brain. It is strongly associated with our memory. If you smell something which is strongly associated with a particular occasion (childhood summers at the beach, for example) it can evoke a strong sense of deja vu. We don’t just think “It reminds me of….”, rather we are instantaneously “back there” in that memory. When we smell a fragrance, we tend to “love” or “hate” it but we cannot always say why in words that a perfume or fragrance developer can use to refine it.
There is no equivalent to sweetness, sourness or bitterness which we might use in a consumer survey on a food product. Instead we rely on consumers telling us whether a fragrance is an appropriate strength (fragrance impact) and has the emotional qualities we want to portray in the product. Is it feminine? Is it natural? Is it fresh?
Personal care products with the widest usage in which this applies include toilet soap and body wash, shampoo and deodorants. Undoubtedly there are many more but these are the ones which spring to mind. Fragrance plays a major role in the acceptance of these products in which the appearance (colour etc.) may be the only other attribute on which acceptance is based. This naturally assumes a product which “does the job” (at least as far as the consumer is concerned.)
Brilliant Reflections/Consumer Research Specialists 