According to Givaudan, 75% of the emotions we experience each day are triggered by smell. Playing this to their advantage, the brand created MoodScentz, patent-pending algorithms that enable perfumers and flavorists to harness the power of scent to evoke positive emotions. Backed by over 35 years of scientific research, MoodScentz was created after the brand compiled data from Brazil, France, and the US that found 85% of consumers feel fragrance has a mood-boosting impact on their general wellness. Givaudan has recently revealed the latest development in its MoodScentz program, MoodScentz+, an upgrade that redefines the brand's understanding of emotional experience, introducing a new neurobiology measurement capability based on extensive data mining.
The upgraded platform comes after four years of partnership with academic leaders in neuroscience research. Through MoodScentz+, perfumers and oral care flavorists can now create compositions that alter moods, covering a wide range of emotions under the labels Relax & Unwind, Invigorate & Recharge, and Happy & Blissful.
MoodScentz+ works using Givaudan's novel InSituScanz brain-imaging device, a leading-edge method of practice that captures the brain's real-time responses to scents and flavors. Across four years of innovative research, Givaudan received their scientific validation by using the InSituScanz device on 7,000 individuals, collecting over 200MM data points.
"MoodScentz+ enables us to go further than ever before in formulating compositions that trigger positive moods and emotions. Our new InSituScanz technology is particularly exciting as it brings MoodScentz+ closer to our customers and consumers, providing deeper insights into emotional and cognitive responses to fragrance. As the device is portable and easy to use, it can now be available in many regions to carry out real-time/local research for the first time ever," says Julia Brooks, Givaudan’s business support scientist who worked on the development.
The brand also uses Mood Portraits as part of its fragrance program initiative, a process where consumers are asked to describe how they feel about scents when they view a series of images. This is said to be beneficial as people often struggle to describe emotions using words. Other methods of research include functional magnetic resonance imaging, using brain-monitoring electroencephalography and physiological monitoring, practices that monitor patterns of brain activity, heart rate, and skin conductance responses while participants smell fragrances.
The research has enabled Givaudan to create their science-based "mood odor map," which shows the connection between scents and different variations of moods. Using this information and multidimensional statistical techniques, the information from the mood odor map is then translated into MoodScentz’s detailed, creative guidelines that inform scent specialists on the best way to translate each smell into products that will spark emotional benefits.
The breakthrough comes at a time when 88% of Americans are actively practicing self-care after an increase in self-care categories since the pandemic. With developments such as MoodScentz+ and offerings from brands like The Nue Co. and Heinemann’s Nullpunk Functional Fragrances, perfumers are moving towards an era where scents go beyond their aesthetic value and provide psychological benefits. The improved platform will allow perfumers to unlock a deeper understanding of consumers, broadening the potential for mood-enhancing products across the fragrance and oral care categories, falling in line with Givaudan's purpose of “Creating for happier, healthier lives with love for nature.”
