Comparison of methods used to study consumer emotions associated with fragrance

As consumer products have become more similar in respect of technical performance and quality emotional characteristics are increasingly important in differentiating products on the market. Consequently measurement of emotions evoked by fragrance is an important aspect of perfume development in the fragrance industry and developing a sensitive and reproducible technique is crucial to ensuring successful fragrance performance in the market. A very brief overview of a selection of methods used to measure emotional stimuli is given in order to illustrate the scope of what is available. The objective of the research described here was to compare results from three different methods that have been used at Givaudan: a verbal method using Visual Analogue Scales and two non-verbal methods, one utilising visuals as an emotional measure and the other utilising brain scanning to measure physiological response. Results using all three methods are examined in order to evaluate the sensitivity of the different approaches. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.