Do Equally Liked Perfumes Affect Mood in the Same Way?

Even among perfumes we like equally, the one we choose when we want to unwind may differ from the one we choose for a change of mood. Could that difference involve more than liking alone?

A study published by A. N. Rétiveau and colleagues in 2004 followed the moods of women who applied perfume to their skin and then returned to everyday activities. It sought to distinguish effects shared by pleasant fragrances from effects associated with individual scent profiles, and to examine how many hours those relationships lasted.

The results showed intriguing patterns. Many, however, were statistically weak trends, not proof that particular fragrance families reliably improve mood. Keeping that distinction in mind helps clarify the questions this experiment was opening up.

First, select three perfumes with similar liking ratings

The research had three stages. First, 14 women aged 18–55 tried six commercial perfumes and other conditions. The researchers selected three with similar average liking ratings but potentially different relationships with mood. Their brands were not disclosed; they were labelled S, V and T.

Next, six trained sensory assessors described the three fragrances in detail. S was characterized as woody, citrus and coniferous; V as a chypre with floral and citrus notes; and T as predominantly floral, with woody and powdery impressions.

Those six assessors were not the participants in the subsequent mood experiment. They were an expert panel providing descriptions in a consistent vocabulary. The perfumes were also complex mixtures, so the design could not isolate, for example, an effect attributable only to floral ingredients.

58 women wore perfume and recorded their everyday moods

The main, third experiment involved 58 women aged 18–55 in Kansas, USA. They tried each of the three perfumes and an unfragranced comparison liquid on two days, for eight days in total. The same perfume was not used on consecutive days, and testing took place from Tuesday to Thursday to reduce differences associated with the beginning of the week or the weekend.

The women applied perfume to the skin of their neck and wrists and returned to normal activities. They were asked not to use other scented products. Rather than having people continuously smell an odour in a laboratory, the study followed mood on days when perfume was actually worn.

Mood was recorded before application and after 5 minutes, 1 hour, 3 hours and 6 hours. Participants completed the Profile of Mood States, or POMS, reporting current tension and anxiety, depression, anger, vigour, fatigue and confusion. An overall index of total mood disturbance was also calculated.

Participants also reported how much they liked the perfume and how aware they were of it. Images associated with each fragrance, such as a relaxing or energetic impression, were assessed separately from their current mood.

Similar liking did not mean identical fragrance images

In the experiment with 58 women, the three perfumes again showed no clear difference in average liking, and all were preferred to the comparison liquid. This does not mean that every participant liked all three equally.

Their associated images did differ. T was rated as more relaxing, warm and romantic; S as more energetic and modern. These answers described the character of a scent. Reporting that a fragrance seems relaxing must be distinguished from an actual reduction in the wearer’s tension.

Awareness of the fragrances declined over time. Perfumes differed from the comparison liquid through the 3-hour measurement, but by 6 hours their presence was no longer clearly distinguishable from the comparison condition.

No clear overall improvement in mood

Some mood results appeared to show higher vigour and lower negative mood in perfume conditions than in the comparison condition. However, the total mood disturbance index showed no clear difference among fragrance conditions. Many individual measures also failed to reach the conventional 5% significance threshold.

The paper treated weak trends at the 10% threshold as exploratory clues. Many differences in vigour and tension fell into this category. The authors also used principal component analysis to visualize similar patterns in mean scores and interpret perfume-specific mood profiles, but clusters on such a plot do not themselves establish reliable effects.

Not every result was null. At 1 hour, the depression scale differed significantly among fragrance conditions at the 5% threshold. The text reports a lower score for T than for S. It did not establish that T was reliably better than the unfragranced comparison condition.

The mood people started with also mattered

The researchers also analysed the results taking pre-application mood into account. Here too, effects of fragrance alone on measures such as vigour and tension remained weak trends.

Some combinations of fragrance and initial mood did show clear relationships. In particular, participants with higher initial anger and hostility scores showed a pattern of higher subsequent scores with S than with other conditions. For depression, the relationship with S was also suggested to differ depending on the initial state.

The authors proposed that equally liked fragrances need not relate to mood in exactly the same way, and that the starting mood on a particular day may matter. This is not a simple division into one perfume that makes people feel good and another that makes them feel bad.

The authors interpreted the relationships with mood as lasting for roughly the 3 hours during which the fragrances remained noticeable. However, improvement lasting 3 hours was not established for every measure. At 6 hours, none of the measured mood dimensions showed a clear difference among fragrance conditions.

Not yet a benefits chart for fragrance families

The study’s value lies in following days when people actually wore perfume. At the same time, everyday events and expectations could not be completely standardized, and the three perfumes were selected through a small preliminary study. Since perfume smells different from an unfragranced liquid, participants may also have recognized their condition.

Only three perfumes were tested, and participants were women who did not report discomfort from fragrances. The study did not adequately analyse differences in culture, preference, perfume use, personality or past experience. Given the many measures and time points examined, the findings require testing with new participants and other perfumes.

The paper discusses possible future mental-health and workplace applications, but it did not test treatment for diagnosed depression or anxiety disorders, or improvements in productivity. A lower depression score on POMS cannot simply be reinterpreted as improvement in a clinical disorder.

Summary

Equally liked perfumes may have different associated images and different patterns of relationship with mood. However, this study does not establish that the three perfumes clearly improved overall mood, and many findings were exploratory.

The important question is not only which fragrance works, but who wears it, in what mood and on what kind of day. By examining liking, scent profile and initial mood together, the study suggests a more nuanced way to understand perfume and emotion than a uniform classification by fragrance family.

References

Rétiveau, A. N., Chambers, E., IV, & Milliken, G. A. (2004). Common and Specific Effects of Fine Fragrances on the Mood of Women. Journal of Sensory Studies, 19(5), 373–394. DOI: 10.1111/j.1745-459x.2004.102803.x. Full text (author-shared version). © 2004 Blackwell Publishing. All Rights Reserved.