Changing The Way "Clean" Smells
We are so used to the way bleach smells that for years, it was what “being clean” smelled like. When you step into a bathroom or kitchen that smells of bleach (usually filled with ammonia right?), the first thing that comes to your mind is that this is a hygienic, germ-free room. Over the years, the bleach smell has been replaced with slightly less-harsher scents. Floral and potpourri-smelling products were in vogue then. But the evaporating smell of alcohol and chemical still lingers faintly.
Today though, many companies making cleaning products are so very conscious of introducing other special scents into their chemicals, such as the introduction of soothing scents like vanilla or lavender. Apparently, they are changing the way our senses process when we think of the word “clean”.
Procter and Gamble has even invested in a test facility that sets up mock homes, with testers walking around and commenting how the room smelled. They call this facility the Consumer Village, with main headquarters in Cincinnati.
A test participant is paid averagely $25 by the company for their time.
According to this article, this is how the facility works:
Testing rooms include one called “Anita’s Kitchen,” which has Corian countertops and stainless-steel appliances to suggest an upscale household. Inside, Alyce Nicholson-Sheehan, a P&G scent-trend expert, gauges consumer reactions to possible fragrances for deodorizing sprays, plug-in devices and candles. Amid hanging kitchen towels, a rotating spice rack and a sponge resting in the sink, there are few signs the room is a testing lab. A small camera sits on a canister near the sink, and a curtained window frame holds a surveillance mirror, behind which researchers scrutinize test subjects.
The first sniff a consumer takes when entering the room is the most informative, Ms. Nicholson-Sheehan says. “I want to know whether they say, ‘Hmm?’ or ‘Hmm!’ when they walk in,” she says.
Body language matters, too. “A pause or a nose twitch usually is not a good sign,” Ms. Nicholson-Sheehan says. A furrowed brow is problematic. “That means they’re trying to figure it out,” she says. “If they have to think about the scent, then I know something isn’t quite right.” She hardly ever asks consumers what they want a cleaning product to smell like. “They always say ‘fresh and clean,’” she says, shaking her head.
Instead, test subjects are asked to rate the intensity of a fragrance and judge how long it seems to linger in the room. Such qualities matter when trying to win over the most voracious scent seekers, a type of consumer P&G calls “Expressive Emma.” “For Emma, scent equals clean,” Ms. Nicholson-Sheehan says. “If a little bit of scent is good, a lot is even better.”
