Abstract
The purpose of this study was to make a short list of sense-descriptive adjectives for outlining olfactory properties of fragrances by means of factor analysis. The extent to which emotional reactions to fragrances have an effect on evaluating the fragrances with these adjectives was also investigated. Three experiments, each of which 50 or more participants evaluating 10 or more fragrance samples, were conducted. In Experiment 1, participants rated fragrance samples with 30 sense-descriptive words. Factor analysis extracted three factors that were interpreted as intensity, clarity, and softness, respectively.
In Experiment 2, participants evaluated fragrance samples with 48 mood-descriptive words. Three factors were extracted by factor analysis, which were named enhancing, relaxing, and stressing, respectively.
In Experiment 3, it was confirmed that the same factors as those in Experiment 1 and 2 could be extracted in both group of adjectives by factor analysis. Moreover, a correlation analysis showed that each factor in the sense-descriptive adjectives was highly correlated with one or a two of the factors in the mood-descriptive adjectives, indicating that the adjectives, which explain sensory properties, have affective connotations themselves. Finally, 9 sense-descriptive words were chosen to describe the 11 fragrance samples in terms of factor scores. General consideration was given to the usefulness of the simpler device of developing a list for outlining fragrances.
