Consumer perceptions and opinions of fragrances in household products

Citation

Strugnell, C. and Jones, L. (1999), "Consumer perceptions and opinions of fragrances in household products", Nutrition & Food Science, Vol. 99 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/nfs.1999.01799daf.002

Consumer perceptions and opinions of fragrances in household products

Consumer perceptions and opinions of fragrances in household products

Introduction

Fragrance can be defined as a sweet and pleasing scent, and fragrances are often used in household products to ensure consumer acceptance and increase competitiveness. Such fragrances are also often used to mask household odours an odour being any type of smell/odour not necessarily pleasant. Fragrance, along with design and packaging, is used to market and promote a particular product to consumers. Thus fragrance is used by product development teams as part of the product brief and plays an important part in the overall product specification. Humans use their olfactory system to detect odours, the mechanism being complex. Breathing, chewing or swallowing causes odour-bearing molecules to be drawn to olfactory receptors in the nasal cavity. Gustation and olfaction are closely linked and are extremely important in the marketing and development of foods, beverages, cosmetics, deodorants, soaps and a variety of household products such as air-fresheners, cleaning products and polishes. It has already been noted that of all the sensory functions of the human body, olfactory discrimination seems the most mysterious (McPherson and Moran, 1994). It is not yet clear how the odour molecules link with receptors, but there is certainly some chemical interaction with molecular shape influencing odour perception. This study sought to understand and explain some consumer perceptions to fragrances in household products and to test if any correlation existed between fragrance and product use, and whether particular fragrances were linked to certain consumer household products.

Olfactory acuity

The olfactory receptors are located in the olfactory epithelium at the top of the nasal cavity. This occupies some 5cm2 within the cavity and typically there are some 10 million receptor cells. As for other sensory receptors age, state of health and whether the individual is a smoker affect the number of receptors. Generally women have greater olfactory sensitivity than men and their sensitivity is keenest at ovulation this has evolutionary significance linked to human pheromones!

Linguistic problems arise when describing odours, even simple English words used to describe fragrances have a different meaning to North American consumers when compared to British consumers. Classification of odours is notoriously difficult and very subjective, this is in contrast to taste where most consumers can readily distinguish and recognise the basic taste sensation of bitter, salt, sweet and sour. Humans can distinguish some 2,000-4,000 different aromas, suggesting perhaps that for each odour molecule there exists an appropriate receptor site (McPherson and Moran, 1994). However this theory is speculative and the reality of odour perception is probably more complex. Some suggest that there are primary odour sensations and that when mixed these give rise to the various odour perceptions similar to taste classification. Odour perception is also influenced by colour, when known odours are placed in an unusual colour situation respondents are sometimes unable to identify the smell correctly (Blackwell, 1995). This synaethesia type response probably follows a similar mechanism to the influence of colour on taste perception and can be used in the marketing of products (Strugnell, 1997).

The mechanism of fragrance appeal to consumers is however more complex and is influenced by cultural background, environment and psychological state. Our reaction to unpleasant odours is often much greater than pleasant odours. Marketers to promote household products for different household environments, use the psychological appeal of fragrances. For instance pine odours are associated with bathrooms, floral notes for bedrooms and spice or citrus notes for living areas. However, these perceptions change for different cultural groups, for example in France pine fragrances are also marketed for living area environments, while in Britain it is more associated with the bathroom.

Fragrances in household consumer products

Fragrances play an important role in the composition of consumer household products and their acceptance by consumers. Certainly air freshening products, of whatever type, are purchased with fragrance in mind. Similarly other products such as cleaners and polishes also have distinctive fragrances. Does fragrance play an equally important role for these products? Producers often add fragrances to mask chemical components within the product formulation. Consumers will often note the fragrance of a product prior to purchase and often a change in fragrance is the only change made in a product relaunch. These odour ‘‘notes’’ are used by manufacturers to conjure a particular image or enhance an attribute in the mind of the consumer (McPherson and Moran, 1994). This all helps in the marketing of the product and maintenance of market share!

Different fragrances lead to varied perception dependent on the ethnicity of the consumer. In Western markets floral perfumes are preferred while in the Far East spicy, heavy and even mildly intoxicating odours predominate. In the UK manufacturers of bathroom cleaners use citrus notes while in other parts of Europe aromatic or ‘‘floral notes’’ dominate. In Japan similar products with ‘‘fruity notes’’ dominate the market. Again ethnic differences arise, what is a fruity fragrance to one culture is herbal to another! These differences are more noticeable in the air-care category, where some fragrance varieties are only sold in a specific country, i.e. SC Johnson market a lavender variant in France. Similarly the intensity of a particular fragrance note will also be changed, either for a particular market or more particularly during a product re-launch.

Consumer preferences for particular colours and odours are constantly changing and manufacturers are continually altering product specifications to cope with consumer trends, there is also a tendency to now introduce food-related fragrances (Jones, 1998).

Investigation of consumer perceptions and opinions

MethodologyThe purpose of the study, was to ascertain how consumers describe fragrances in household products and if they correspond with manufacturers’ descriptions and to see if particular fragrances are correlated with specific product groups and/or different domestic environments. Also to assess the role of fragrance in communicating hygiene to consumers and to test if fragrance influences product selection and product effectiveness. For the purpose of this study the following five household product areas were selected:

1. 1.

   air fresheners;

2. 2.

   bathroom cleaners;

3. 3.

   furniture polishes;

4. 4.

   kitchen cleaners;

5. 5.

   toilet cleansers.

A postal questionnaire was administered to 300 women living in the South-East of England. All were women aged between 18 and 65 and were responsible for grocery purchase and the main users of household products within their family units. The respondents were familiar with questionnaires and are frequently involved by a leading manufacturer in product analysis. They were therefore the most suitable subjects for this study. From this postal ‘‘drop’’, 208 respondents returned the questionnaire. Although obviously not representative of the consumer population, they are the main users and purchasers of household products. The questionnaire consisted of 28 questions, divided into five subsections according to the number of product categories selected. The questions were designed to ascertain what type(s) of product were purchased (pump action, spray etc), for preferred brands and opinions about fragrance and what type of fragrance was preferred for each product category.

Sensory evaluation was also carried out on selected products, using cotton wool as the fragrance medium in plastic cups. Respondents (n = 35) were asked to describe the fragrance (citrus, pine, floral, herbal and vanilla etc.) and then select for which product category it was most appropriate (Appendix). They were also asked to comment upon the relative hygiene perceived from a particular fragrance.

Analysis and discussionFrom the questionnaire study (n = 208), it was shown that consumers used a number of product variants for a particular cleaning task. Taking bathroom cleaners as a representative product, consumers purchased products that could be applied/used in a number of different formats, i.e. aerosol mousse, surface application or trigger spray. Similar results were obtained for the other product types. This indicates that consumers are susceptible to the marketing initiatives of manufacturers and will purchase fairly mundane products, which incorporate innovative application technology. Of more interest was the type of fragrance selected for each product type. Considerable effort has been taken in producing a range of products in which the functionality is fairly consistent but which vary not only in the technology of the application but particularly the type of fragrance and intensity is varied. Table I illustrates which particular fragrances were thought suitable for a particular product type.

Table 1Particular fragrances thought suitable for a particular product type

These results follow a fairly typical pattern for UK consumers in that pine is usually linked with cleanliness and germ killing ability and is therefore associated with bathrooms, whilst fruity, floral and vanilla fragrances are more associated with living areas mainly polishes and air fresheners. The main brands were purchased but there were significant numbers of retailer own branded products also being purchased. For the majority of the products ease of use and effectiveness were the main considerations, although there was some indication that some fragrances had hygiene or cleanness perceptions this prompted the sensory tests.

During the sensory evaluation respondents were asked to describe the fragrance and comment on its appropriateness for a particular environment (Appendix). Respondents were usually able to recognise and describe common fragrances such as citrus, pine and vanilla. However there was some variability, and citrus fragrances were sometimes described as floral and vanilla as fruity. Citrus and pine fragrances were readily recognised and there was a significant correlation with hygiene (p < 0.05), the greater the intensity of the fragrance the stonger the correlation. Manufacturers claim that efficacy and hygiene of a product expected by the consumer is communicated through the fragrance. This study supported that assertion with fruity or floral notes, such as vanilla, not correlating with hygiene. Respondents were able to correlate particular fragrances with particular environments, citrus and pine being associated with bathrooms and kitchens and floral, herbal and vanilla fragrances linking with living areas.

Conclusion

Apart from air-care products, fragrance was not considered an important attribute for cleaning products. However citrus and pine did correlate with perceived hygiene and this is important for bathroom and toilet cleansers. Interestingly, from the questionnaire fragrance was ranked the least important attribute of these products but there was a hygiene association made in the sensory trials. This would clearly influence product purchase and more importantly repeat purchases. Evidence of the current trend in food-related fragrances were found in this study, with some products having fruity and herbal ‘‘notes’’. The example of vanilla air freshener products is an example of fragrance influencing product development.

Christopher Strugnell and Lucille Jones Consumer Studies Division,Faculty of Business and Management,University of Ulster, BT37 0QB, UK.E-mail CJ.Strugnell@ulst.ac.uk.

Appendix. Fragrance evaluation

Please smell samplePlease circle the current response:(1) How would you describe the fragrance? (one answer only)

1. 1.

   Citrus

2. 2.

   Pine

3. 3.

   Floral

4. 4.

   Herbal

5. 5.

   Vanilla

6. 6.

   Disinfectant/chemical

7. 7.

   Aquatic

8. 8.

   Fruity

9. 9.

   Mint

(2) From the following list please state which product you think this is a suitable fragrance for: (one answer only)

1. 1.

   Kitchen cleaner

2. 2.

   Bathroom cleaner

3. 3.

   Toilet cleanser

4. 4.

   Air freshener

5. 5.

   Furniture polish

(3) From the following list please state which area in the house you might expect to find this fragrance: (one answer only)

1. 1.

   Bathroom

2. 2.

   Kitchen

3. 3.

   Living area

4) On the line below please place a mark to indicate the degree of hygiene you think this fragrance conveys:

• •

  Non-hygienic

• •

  Hygienic