CONSUMER RESEARCH ON NEW PRODUCTS 477 democracy is an anachronism--it is just chaos. The marketing people with their feet on the ground are aware of this: they know that no story means no sales. With a new product it is futile to ask panels to give a preference between it and an old but established product. They do not know what to look for in the new one. Their conditioned order of preferences through experience can jeopardize a true assessment of value. A new hair cream which while giving ample grooming of the hair but which does not soil the pillows, can be condemned because it gives a slightly less glossy shine to the hair. And yet such a cream if its nonsoiling properties were known, must prove to be highly acceptable. This is but one example of the fault in much of the consumer research which is carried out. It tends to maintain the status quo and can lead to a uniformity of quality which approximates mediocrity. That this has some significant measure of truth can be easily proved. Ask some young woman why she uses some particular cosmetic preparation. The majority of answers will be superficial in character. Then ask what properties she expects to find in such preparations and why. Those that give good or reasonable stories will, in the main, use parts of the advertising copy. This is even true of actual chemists working in the laboratory suitably biased, of course, by the beliefs which the particular laboratory may hold. In consumer research each product to be tested must stand on its own feet. The marketing people know this quite well and their job is to put forward reasons why a particular product should be bought. These sup- porting stories are judged practically always by the innate skill of the ad- vertiser. They may play on a feature of acceptability which is low down the scale of the majority, in which case, the advertising is weak, or strong if perchance the feature was high in the scale of preference. The employ- ment of the panel testing technique should be extended to bring in these sort of problems. That is to say, the object of the experiment should be redefined. The consumer panel test might well be to determine the con- sumer acceptability by means of a panel of users who are aware of the fea- tures which are to be assessed and who will place these features in an order of preference. Since it would be of immense value to know if continual usage brings about a change of acceptability, it is a wise procedure to offer a further supply for testing purposes. An analysis of the results from such will give some indication of the chances of the product surviving--a point of significant importance in the commercial field. The notion is put forward, therefore, that when a new product has been formulated, tested in the laboratory and has fulfilled all the requirements of stability appertaining to shelf life, etc., the samples, when distributed to the consumer research panel, should be accompanied by a concise but clear pamphlet indicating those advantageous properties to which attention is to

478 JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY OF COSMETIC CHEMISTS be drawn. In other words, some attempt should be made to "sell" the new product to the panel, asking them to indicate whether they agree with the claims or disagree. A possible mode of doing this would be to state in the pamphlet that: "This is a new product. We, in designing and formulating it, believe that if it is used in accordance with the directions given below, you will find (1) It does... (2) It does... (3) It does..., etc. "Would you please be good enough to use this preparation in accordance with the directions and let us know whether, in your opinion, the product fulfills these claims? It is realized that the product may not be equally satisfactory to everyone. It may not suit you. In this case, please indi- cate what faults, if any, you find. Your observation will help us to achieve the perfection which we are striving for. "If you feel you would like to continue the testing, please ask the inter- viewer for a further supply. It will be gladly given on request." To sum up, one can say that the organizations carrying out consumer research do not like single placement tests, the reason being that they know the results obtained more often than not lack precision. It is suggested that this is because the members of the panel, if ignorant, may condemn and that asking questions, often loaded, can vitiate the results. As a result, novel product's can fail to get full recognition of all their attributes. In such instances, panel testing can destroy the creative spirit of the research workers in that it can crush their enthusiasm in their painstaking and often very strenuous work. But even worse, it can damage or even destroy the confidence of the salesmen and this could be catastrophic. INCREASE IN DUES Membership dues for the U.S. Society of Cosmetic Chemists will be increased to $20.00 per year starting January, 1961.