This paper focuses on how a cross-cultural research program is used to better understand issues of fragrance and consumer insight. At Takasago, the voice of the consumer is integrated into the Creative Fragrance Development Cycle with perceptual maps providing insight into the consumer's subconscious reactions to fragrances. With a cross-cultural consumer testing process (e.g., Wave Testing), further fragrance and consumer insights are easily obtained. Moreover, with a critical mass of Wave Testing, Takasago determines drivers of acceptance, olfactive opportunities, and attribute learning. Hence, ROI is delivered throughout the Creative Development Process, e.g., via Study, Wave, and Project.
A Perceptual Map of quantitative fragrance profiles can provide the perfumer with a snapshot of the current olfactive market. To provide the perfumer with a stable platform to work with, the core to this approach is Quantitative Fragrance Descriptive Analysis (QFDA), in which trained assessors quantitatively rate fragrances on various fragrance descriptive characteristics. Emotive measures from the consumer can be integrated with QFDA profiles. This integration provides the perfumer with a new understanding of how olfactive directions impact consumer perceptions and emotions. The emotive language of the consumer is translated into a more technical fragrance lexicon for the perfumer. From this process, cross-cultural differences and commonalities are readily visualised by the perfumer.