Fragrance plays a powerful role in the appeal and success of beauty, personal care, and home products. When shopping for a fragranced product, whether it’s a shampoo, body lotion, a candle or even a bottle of cologne, who among us doesn’t pop the top and take a sniff?
From shampoos and body lotions to candles and colognes, consumers instinctively evaluate scent before purchase. A well-crafted fragrance can evoke emotion, spark memories, and forge a lasting bond between the product and the user—boosting brand loyalty and repeat sales. Today’s consumers actively seek unique fragrances that align with their personal identities, making fragrance a key differentiator in a crowded marketplace.
In-Home Use Tests (IHUTs) for fragrance and scented personal care products offer brands critical consumer insights into scent perception, product performance, and emotional impact. Consumer product testing of fragrances or fragranced products, from body mists and lotions to hair care styling products to home diffusers, helps refine formulations and marketing strategies, ensuring alignment with consumer preferences.
Brands aiming to make scent-related marketing claims—such as mood enhancement, wellness benefits, wearability, or longevity—can rely on The Benchmarking Company’s award-winning claims substantiation methodology. Our approach delivers validated claims that not only build consumer trust but also help mitigate legal and regulatory risk.
Get to know your consumer through in-depth research. Drop us a note for more information on Beauty & Personal Care product testing and specialized beauty consumer research.
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will not buy a product with a fragrance they dislike even if the product has proven skincare or other benefits
state when selecting scented products, fragrance itself is important to very important in their purchasing decision
At The Benchmarking Company, our in-home use testing puts your cosmetic and personal care formulations directly into the hands of real beauty consumers, in real-life settings. Following a clearly defined protocol, a targeted panel of testers from across the country test your products at home through an In-Home Use Test (IHUT), also known as a consumer perception study. This approach delivers powerful insights that are both scientifically grounded and emotionally meaningful. Our consumer testing confirms your products’ performance, how the products are perceived, and—most importantly—why they inspire loyalty and repurchase.
Unlike traditional clinical labs, TBC captures the authentic voice of the beauty buyer, delivering rich performance insights, quantifiable satisfaction data, and substantiated claims that resonate with today’s savvy consumer. From packaging and social media to influencer partnerships, e-commerce listings, and broadcast campaigns, when TBC clients use our validated consumer claims, it elevates their brand storytelling—legally, ethically, and with impact.
In-home usage testing involves sending either a prototype or a product that is conditionally approved for in-market commercialization and has undergone appropriate safety and stability testing to a defined panel of target consumers. This panel uses the product(s) – according to specific usage instructions – for a given time period, and then assesses the product at various time points based on their perception of performance, efficacy and overall appeal. Fragrance testing reveals hero claims as well as emotional connections to products and brands which is a valuable tool for any marketing team. IHUT testing also provides the brand with verified user testimonials and claims that may be used in the brand’s marketing efforts – in social, on packaging, online advertising, on-air, at point-of-sale and in other marketing initiatives. IHUTs can explore a number of elements from use-up rates, to sensorial attributes, to competitive product preferences, as well as the results you want to claim. IHUTs are a powerful way to provide proof to your customer that the product works through substantiated claims while mitigating regulatory and legal risk. TBC’s IHUT methodology follows ISO and ASTM standards for consumer perception studies.
Determine consumer fragrance preferences
Conduct perfume and fragrance prototype testing
Execute scent testing for product development – fine-tune product formulation or scent profile based on real consumer feedback
Evaluate the overall sensory experience among male, female and gender non-conforming consumers
Evaluate mood-enhancing and perceived efficacy benefits
Ensure customer satisfaction
Conduct scent-profile analysis
Run highly targeted sensorial panels – from scent sensitivity requirements to skin sensitivity requirements
Understand fragrance preferences among different age groups, genders and cultural groups
Provides advertising claims validation and mitigates legal and regulatory risk
Work with a team deeply steeped in fragrance market research
Enhance branding and marketing opportunities
Large- or small-scale customizable studies with consumer-relevant panels
Follows industry best practices and standards for market research
Recruit from TBC’s proprietary database of 275K+ vetted beauty and personal care buyers
Sample a geographically dispersed nationwide population
Provides advetising claims validation
look for proof that the scent lasts all day on the skin/hair/body
seek scented products proven to be designed for people with scent and/or skin sensitivities
The Benchmarking Company conducts a variety of fragrance research. IHUT testing is a powerful research tool that brands leverage to test various aspects of fragrance, from consumer fragrance preferences to fragrance testing for brand positioning, to skin and scent sensitivity to scent development research and prototyping. Our consumer product testing methodologies afford brands the opportunity to conduct efficacy testing, prototype testing, performance and preference testing, sensorial testing, competitive product preference testing, and use-up studies to name a few. TBC conducts IHUT testing on a plethora of beauty, personal care and wellness products, from hair care products, to skincare to body care.
Fine Fragrance
Colognes & Parfums
Body Mists/Body Sprays
Body Soap
Shower Gel
Bubble Bath
Body Oils
Deodorant/Antiperspirant
Shampoo
Conditioner
Hand Cream
Lip Balm
Facial Skincare
Bath Balms
Hair Styling Products
Shaving Cream/Lotion
Aftershave
Candles
Reed Diffusers
Room Sprays
Essential Oils
Laundry Soap
Pet Shampoo
Hand Sanitizer
Baby Lotions
would be more likely to purchase a product if the research results were visible to me (i.e. on product page or on the display)
TBC, an award-winning consumer product testing company, has conducted product efficacy testing for the largest brands in the business, as well as scores of Indie startups. Our unsurpassed knowledge of beauty and personal care consumers, the claims that resonate with them, and our understanding of current cosmetics advertising regulations coupled with our proprietary methodologies and our renowned panel of 275K+ beauty and personal care buyers, are reasons why brands come back to us time and again for our product testing services.
We work with you to develop the right beauty product testing strategy, matching your product with the right potential buyer.
We send your products to our panelists all over the country.
Our panelist test and provide valuable feedback by completing customized on-line self-assessment claims surveys. The brand gets validated reviews and testimonials.
