From noise to sound: Setting the base of packaging sound design for cosmetics by physical, sensory and cognitive characterization of lipstick closing sounds

When envisioning a tube of lipstick, the initial impressions are typically centered around its visual appearance and fragrance. Its sound, specifically the sound of closing the tube, is unlikely to be the first perception to be spontaneously imagined. Even so, consciously or not, a beauty experience is multisensorial, and the overall perception is a weighted combination of all sensory dimensions. Lipstick closing is defined as a noise as it comes from a side effect of packaging produced by the interaction between the packaging conception and the closing gesture. However, this "noise" can become a sound if it is designed specifically to carry functional or emotional cues. This study aims to support sound design for packaging in cosmetics. It consists of a combination of three approaches to better understand the mental categories associated with lipstick closing sounds. Through this combined approach of 1) a Sequential Agglomerative Sorting task with consumers, 2) a sensory decoding by a panel and 3) physical analyses of the sounds, this study provides new evidence of how the sound is perceived with an emphasis on cultural similarities and differences. The results show clear perceptual differences between lipstick sounds but no strong cultural difference between France and China. The description of sound by physical and sensorial measurement highlights the key role of sound duration and frequency in sound discrimination. The goal of this work is to influence the design of lipstick and, more globally, product design by introducing the sound dimension as an essential consideration.