J. Cosmet. Sci., 65, 161–173 (May/June 2014) 161 Selection of fragrance for cosmetic cream containing olive oil MARÍA EMMA PARENTE, ADRIANA GÁMBARO, LUCÍA BOINBASER, and ANTONELLA ROASCIO, Cátedra de Química Cosmética (M.E.P., L.B.), and Sección Evaluación Sensorial (A.G., A.R.), Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, C.P.11800, Montevideo, Uruguay. Accepted for publication March 10, 2014. Synopsis Perceptions of essences for potential use in the development of a line of cosmetic emulsions containing olive oil were studied. Six cream samples prepared with six essences selected in a preliminary study were evaluated for overall liking and intention to purchase by a 63-women sample. A check-all-that-apply (CATA) question consisting of 32 terms was used to gather information about consumer perceptions of fragrance, affective as- sociations, effects on the skin, price, target market, zones of application, and occasions of use. Hierarchical cluster analysis led to the identifi cation of two consumer clusters with different frequency of use of face creams. The two clusters assigned different overall liking scores to the samples and used the CATA terms differently to describe them. A fragrance with jasmine as its principal note was selected for further develop- ment of cosmetic creams, as it was awarded the highest overall liking scores by respondents of the two clus- ters, and was signifi cantly associated with cosmetic features including nourishing, moisturizing, softening, with a delicious and mild smell, and with a natural image, as well as being considered suitable for face and body creams. The use of CATA questions enabled the rapid identifi cation of attributes associated by respon- dents with a cosmetic cream’s fragrance, in addition to contributing relevant information for the defi nition of marketing and communication strategies. INTRODUCTION The term “fragrance” denotes a scent or essence included in a cosmetic formulation for the purpose of prompting a pleasing reaction in the target consumer. A cosmetic product’s fragrance is intimately associated with its acceptance by consumers, in a manner related to cultural, affective, socioeconomic, age- and gender-related variables, among others (1,2). A product’s fragrance is strongly related to its potential attractiveness and has been attributed a decisive role in selection between otherwise similar products (3,4). Fragrances can be used to emphasize the presence of particular ingredients, but must be compat- ible with the use of other product constituents and effectively contribute to the overall marketing mix (5,6). A fragrance can be used in a cosmetic product to suggest the Address all correspondence to María Emma Parente at eparente@fq.edu.uy.

JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE 162 product’s intended use, quality, or target consumer profi le (7). Alternatively, some cos- metics rely on the use of scents to mask the disagreeable smell of base formulations. A previous study (8) showed that female consumers of anti-aging creams assigned higher overall liking scores to samples with a mild, pleasant fragrance than to those perceived to have a disagreeable smell. According to these results, the sensory and hedonic perception of creams was strongly infl uenced by the product’s fragrance. Interestingly, the results of the study suggested that consumers’ overall liking and the perceived quality of a product may be strongly affected by the product’s fragrance. Thus, the inclusion of a fragrance selection step in the development of anti-aging creams may be key to the success of a marketing strategy. In further previous work conducted with the aim of selecting suitable scents for incorpo- ration in olive-oil-based cosmetic emulsions for body, face, and hand creams (9), consum- ers tended to associate olive-oil cosmetic creams with negative attributes, such as “food odor,” “disagreeable smell,” and “strong smell.” In selecting a cosmetic product’s fragrance, it is worth studying the degree of liking or dislike that different fragrances cause in consumers and further details of the attributes with which the fragrances are perceived by consumers. Check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions can be conveniently employed in market research to reduce response burden (10). Presented with a multiple choice question consisting of a list of attributes, respondents select those that apply to a given sample. A major advantage of this type of question is that it allows multiple options to be se- lected, instead of limiting respondents to selecting only one answer or forcing them to focus their attention on evaluating specifi c attributes (11). CATA questions can include not only attributes related to the sensory characteristics of samples but also consumption frequency, purchase intention, and affective variables (12). CATA questions have been used for the sensory characterization of various food and cos- metic products, and have been reported to be a quick, simple, and easy method for assess- ing consumer perception of the sensory characteristics of several products (8,13–19) The aim of this study was to use CATA questions to gather information on consumer perceptions of fragrances, with a view to determining the essences worth considering in the development of olive-oil-based cosmetic creams. MATERIALS AND METHODS PRELIMINARY STUDY Choice of fragrances to be incorporated in creams, on the basis of fragrance names. A preliminary study was conducted to select fragrances to be incorporated in cosmetic creams. In view of the sense-exhausting character of fragrances, the preliminary study was done with the mental images evoked by the names of fragrances alone, which refl ect consumers’ experi- ences, imagination, and expectations (2,20). The study was conducted in Montevideo, Uruguay, using convenience (opportunity) sam- pling. A total of 134 female respondents aged between 18 and 60 were recruited randomly