Consumers mental images

We thus decided to extend the Flash Profile method to the measurement of emotions, mental images and lifestyles associated with the smell of fragrances. Our goal was to tap into this imagery process on the motive side of the consumer in a manner that is meaningful to both the perfumer and marketing researchers (Ballay et al., 2006). 

A closer look at the different items which have been generated shows that French and US consumers use more terms related to Emotions while the Chinese assessors generated more Mental Images and LifeStyles items. Descriptions of Olfactory were comparable (Fig. 19.7). 

Table 19.4 Examples of simple idioms and phrases used by consumers for Mental Images in China...

For instance, for China, the number of groups is different and the fragrances in each group are not the same. For the Mental Images and LifeStyles, the way the consumers perceive and associate the fragrances may vary from the perception they had when they were asked to describe the Olfactory perception. 

Similar to what was observed with the previous Flash Profile consumer studies, aU consumers were able to use the Projective Flash Profile methodology. Moreover, no consumers had trouble finding and imagining mental images, emotions or associations with the different perfumes. This is a confirmation of the highly imaginative and very evocative potential of fragrances. 

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