Firmenich hacks mental performance with AI-tailored fragrances for boosting focus

01 Dec 2022 --- While fragrances are known to trigger particular olfactory memories and emotions, an untapped field in perfumery is intentionally crafting a scent experience to enhance mental states. Pioneering research in this space, Firmenich is introducing a range of fragrances branded Focus, powered by EmotiCODE.

The scents are based on the first patent-pending perfume design rules demonstrated to give consumers the benefit of improved focus and help them get into a state of flow.

“The fragrances were pre-tested with our time response methodology, Neurohm, to ensure they responded to specific claims. We also selected phytoactive ingredients that were correlated in literature to focus, like lemon and rosemary,” Matteo Magnani, chief consumer and innovation officer at Firmenich tells PersonalCareInsights.

“It is developed for cross-category usage with a key priority being air care, perfume and also fabric enhancers. We know that these categories are interesting to consumers for focus.”

Magnani details that in the future, Firmenich may be looking to expand its product development into other outcomes, like joy or optimism.

In the future, Firmenich may be looking to expand its product development into other scent outcomes, like joy or optimism.

Olfaction and emotion
This fragrance development is the latest neuroscientific advancement and addition to the EmotiON program, which brings together proprietary consumer insights from across the globe, neuroscientific research and the expertise of our perfumers, to deliver positive emotions to consumers.

“Focus is crucial to mental wellness,” remarks Ilaria Resta, president of global perfumery at Firmenich. “Now, for the first time ever, we can help consumers achieve focus, wherever they are, with fragrance.”

“These fragrances can deliver related benefits, such as mental efficiency and clarity of mind, bringing the power of positive perfumery to consumers.”

Based on its global research on consumer insights, Firmenich completed a comprehensive study on emotional responses to scents.

“For over 25 years, our scientists at Firmenich have been leading neuroscientific research on olfaction and emotion,” says Sarah Reisinger, chief research officer. “Our research on scent perception and bioresponse is very extensive and paved the way for us to understand the transformation of molecular signals into odor, flavor and emotions.”

“This is the foundation of our EmotiON program, which uses a range of R&D and market research tools to create a model or framework to identify, create and certify the emotional benefits of fragrance.”

Scent crafting
As fragrances and emotions are intricately linked, Firmenich conducted research with its ScentMove tool that provides a template for the verbalization of emotions and enables the evaluation of feelings elicited by odors and fragrances.

Using a questionnaire based on this model, the company’s consumer insights team was able to identify which emotions laddered up to Focus.

“ScentMove is the proprietary emotional wheel linking fra­grances to emotions with a system that ladders up to 25 feeling terms associated with emotion,” details Magnani. “Derived from research on cognitive responses, this tool provides a template for verbalization of emotions and enables the evaluation of feelings elicited by odors and fragrances.”

Through an AI model developed by Firmenich D-lab, Firmenich begins its scent creation by consulting EmotiCODE, a set of design rules to create fragrances that evoke the emotional response linked to focus.

Based on its global research on consumer insights, Firmenich completed a comprehensive study of humans’ emotional responses to scents.These emotion-centered, fragrance design rules allow perfumers to create fragrances shown to be associated with increased mental performance in cognitive tasks.

This process also leverages the IRIS database – an Interactive Research Intelligent System that stores data from more than 34,000 fragrances and over 1.9 million consumer interviews across 51 countries.

Testing for effects
The EmotiCODE Focus fragrance was tested for its impact on mental performance using two different cognitive tasks – the Stroop task (Stroop, 1935; MacLeod, 1991), a classical paradigm to measure interference and attention, and a mental arithmetic task that measures quantitative reasoning.

“We asked consumers to specify how they feel when they are focused. We then identified the emotion, went into our IRIS database and pulled out olfactive notes that were either enhancing or disruptive of this emotion,” explains Magnani.

These tests confirmed that the Focus fragrances increased mental processing speed in both tasks, versus fragrances that did not use EmotiCODE creation rules and the control condition with no odor.

Overall, these studies confirmed that a fragrance specifically designed to enhance focus has indeed boosted mental performance, states the company.

In Firmenich’s global “New Next Now” Barometer study on consumer insights, 73% of consumers say they “appreciate scent more than before” and 66% of consumers believe that fragrances can do more than “make products smell good” by providing added benefits.

Consumers have been turning toward fragrance to provide holistic wellness solutions for mind and body, and help their overall mental well-being. 

Tapping into the multi-spectrum of mood
Givaudan has similarly delved into the science of scent and its impact on mood and mental performance. The Swiss fragrance giant unveiled an upgraded version of its platform for fragrance and oral care design, dubbed MoodScentz+, which builds upon the company’s existing neurobiology innovation. 

MoodScentz+ allows perfumers and oral care flavorists to create compositions that enhance emotions, covering a range of moods such as “Relax & Unwind, Invigorate & Recharge and  Happy & Blissful.” 

The upgraded platform broadens the potential for mood enhancement by unlocking a deeper understanding of consumer needs. It covers an “extensive” olfactive palette supporting all product categories and measures real-time emotional response using the company’s InSituScanz brain-imaging capability.

In other moves, beauty giant L’Oréal partnered with bio-informatics and technology company Emotiv to design a headset device for helping consumers create their personalized fragrance, resulting in a “perfect scent” to match their mood.

Further speeding up the research and production of scent products, Symrise recently unveiled its AI-augmented platform, Philyra 2.0, which enables brands to produce renewable and biodegradable alternatives.

Philyra can generate up to 12 fragrance formulas in less than a minute – after which the perfumer can review and select which is best.

By Benjamin Ferrer