Consumer Survey: Home Scent Preferences

The most popular scents to have in one’s home include lavender (U.S.), coffee (Italy/China), coconut (France) and cotton fresh (U.K.).
The most popular scents to have in one’s home include lavender (U.S.), coffee (Italy/China), coconut (France) and cotton fresh (U.K.).

Aqdot, the Cambridge-based chemtech company, has conducted a survey of 500 consumers in the United Kingdom, United States, France, Italy and China, revealing how different fragrance released from an air freshener affects consumers.

Related: Firmenich Launches Emotion Centered Fragranced Program

The survey revealed that different unpleasant smells give rise to different negative emotions.

  • Human smells (poo, urine, vomit, farts, sweat) and rotting food smells (fish, rotten egg, milk, cheese, cooking fat) make people nauseous and distracted when working from home.

  • Tobacco and environmental smells (mouldy, stale, musty air) are more likely to make them feel irritated or stressed.

  • Cooking food smells (garlic and spices) negatively affect the mood of Chinese consumers the most.

The most popular scents to have in one’s home include lavender (U.S.), coffee (Italy/China), coconut (France) and cotton fresh (U.K.).

The survey also revealed that 69% of consumers are more concerned about indoor air quality since the COIVD-19 pandemic, with viruses, allergens and pollutants, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) high on their list of concern.

Hugh Rathbone, chief commercial officer at Aqdot, said, “Enhancing the fragrance experience is an opportunity for many global household and personal care brands and that is why many of the leading multi-national companies are testing and formulating AqFresh in their products. We have a growing database of experiments demonstrating that products from leading air freshening brands can double their fragrance longevity simply through the addition of AqFresh."

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