Sensory and aesthetic aspects of skin care are increasingly important to consumers as they are less and less inclined to purchase products with inadequate aesthetics regardless of proven efficacy. More importantly, experiencing the ‘wow’ factor creates commercially successful brands. P&G CEO AG Lafley famously stated that “People remember experiences... they don’t remember attributes or benefits” and P&G has been in the business of selling a “delightful experience” in skin care ever since. Before we go on to understanding the main factors that impact on skin care products creating a delightful experience, let’s look at how the senses involved in a skin care experience influence our brain.
Smell, touch and vision can sense and discriminate the external environment but also ‘emote’ internally. Skin care products can visually impact on the condition of the skin, and sight is responsible for 80% of the information input into our brain. The skin is the largest – and a very sensitive – sensory organ, having 50 touch receptors for every square cm and about five million sensory cells overall. Touch is the first human sense; both skin and brain develop from ectoderm in the embryo. Touch represents communication with the environment as well as personal or social grooming. Touch can act as a conductor of emotion, sparking positive feelings that forge attachments and strengthen relationships, including relationships to oneself.
Not yet a Subscriber?
This is a small extract of the full article which is available ONLY to premium content subscribers. Click below to get premium content on Cosmetics Business.
Subscribe now Already a subscriber? Sign in here.
