By Jasmine Leong and Jolene Maloney, CRODA
It is said ‘A picture can tell a thousand words’ however, ‘one touch is worth ten thousand’. One touch is all that is needed for a skincare formulation to tell a story and for a consumer to form their opinion. Although this first touch is experienced at a level beyond language, the consumer will verbalise their opinions using descriptors that may vary by demographic.
This leads to the questions: How does sensory language use differ between consumer groups? How can the language of the consumer be translated into the technical language of the skincare formulator? And importantly, how can we harness this information in order to enhance the product development process?
To answer these questions, SenStoriesTM utilises reliable and reproducible methodology to connect insights on consumer perception and language choice, with the knowledge that ingredient combination and colloidal structure are responsible for a given sensorial feel.
The understandings gained can be used to help enable predictive ingredient selection; allowing for the development of formulations with targeted and desired sensorial experiences – all whilst saving the formulator valuable development time.
SenStoriesTM has started this investigation by exploring how two groups of consumers perceive the sensory characteristics of a range of simple skin care formulations. The consumers were based in either Singapore or France, thus providing insight into two prominent yet culturally opposing regions.
Since previous work demonstrates that emulsifiers are a key ingredient to provide tactility in skin care products, a different oil-in-water emulsifier system was included in each of twelve initial simple skin care formulations. The emulsifier systems varied by chemical nature and their inclusion allowed for their effect on touch-sensory in formulation to be analysed.
Through the use of a number of analytical tools, any correlations and any differences between the descriptive language by each consumer set (the sensorial semantics) and the technical sensory language (the sensorial syntax) could be identified.
Sensorial preference drivers for both the Singaporean and the French consumer could also be highlighted. For example, it was found that ‘fresh’ (or ‘frais’) was a top preference driver for each consumer group.
However, such a descriptor is surely quite subjective, so how do we translate ‘fresh’ into something more meaningful for the formulator? Based on the insights generated, we find that the meaning of the word ‘fresh’ is really quite similar for both consumer groups, however there are still variances in expectation and a different oil-in-water emulsifier system would be recommended to meet the optimal requirement of ‘fresh’ for the Singaporean consumer (Versaflex™ V150) or ‘fresh’ for the French consumer (Arlacel™ 165).
Interestingly, had we not taken on board the distinctive expectations of these consumers, the emulsifier system that would be recommended based on technical language (syntax) alone would have been different again.
Another interesting example to explore is ‘Rich’ for the Singaporean consumer and ‘Riche/Rich’ for the French consumer. In the case of these consumer language terms (semantics), these descriptors may indeed sound very similar, however they have very different meanings to each consumer group. The attributes that lead to the ‘rich’ opinion being formed have been found to be quite different for each group and as such, the resulting recommended emulsifier systems are also quite different; with ViscOptima™ LV identified as optimal for the Singaporean consumer and the Brij™ S2 / Brij™ S721 system for the French consumer. This reinforces the importance of understanding the expectations of the consumer for whom the formulation is being created.
In order to exploit this valuable data to its full potential, the SenStories™ Selector tool has been developed. This quick and easy-to-use tool enables predictive ingredient selection by allowing the user to discover oil-in-water emulsifier systems based on the desired sensory of the target consumer. All recommendations generated are suitable for the development of skin care formulations and give the formulator a head start in the product development process. To discover the SenStories™ Selector Tool for yourself and find out more about SenStories, visit: www.crodapersonalcare.com/senstories
Watch the video here: Video link: SenStories – YouTube
Author Names and Biographies:
Jasmine Leong
Jasmine Leong is the Technology Development Manager of Croda Singapore. She has more than 20 years of experience in sensory evaluation in food and non-food area. As the Technology Development Manager (Beauty Formulation) at the Centre of Innovation of Sensory Science, she works in cross-functional groups with scientists, formulators as well as marketing department in personal care area. This includes interpreting sensory and consumer research into relevant business recommendations.
Jolene Maloney
Jolene Maloney is Sustainability Marketing Manager for Beauty Care, Consumer Care at Croda. Based in the UK and armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemistry and several years of experience within the chemical and personal care industries, she works closely with global commercial and technical teams on a variety of sustainability focussed projects, aiding the development of ingredients and initiatives for the personal care market.
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