Impacts of sensory multimodality congruence and familiarity with short use on cosmetic product evaluation.

Cross-modal association between sensory modalities is a natural phenomenon in the perception of our environment. For cosmetic evaluation, touch and smell are the two major sensory modalities involved in the whole product perception. In this study, we investigate whether a specific cosmetic texture is preferentially associated to a specific fragrance: congruence between texture and fragrance. In addition, we investigate whether one week use of a fragrance-texture congruent or non-congruent product can influence user's whole product appreciation and well-being. We have conducted a 4-test-experiment with 29 participants, first in the laboratory to evaluate: 6 fragrances and 4 textures individually with free description (test 1); the same stimuli with a description with cross-modal descriptors (test 2); 10 fragrance-texture combined products (test 3) and secondly at home, 2 fragrance-texture combined products: one congruent and one non-congruent (test 4). Results showed that: 1) For a given texture type, specific olfactory notes are necessary to lead to a congruent cross-modal pairing product. 2) Sensory modal congruent products produce the highest hedonic response. 3) Real life use or familiarization with a product can influence not only the degree of cross-modal congruence but also overall cosmetic product appreciation.