Scents
Wednesday 21st March, 2007 14:20 Comments: 1
A friend of Tania posted a poll ages ago on LiveJournal, and finally posted a summary of the results (48 respondants, of which 26 were male and 22 female). Amongst the very detailed study was the following information that I found interesting:
Only 22% of people use scent regularly, 38% of people never touch it, 42% of people don't own any, and women tend to own more than men. When it comes to how other people smell:
Positive Reaction - 32 (67%)
Neutral Reaction - 12 (25%)
Negative Reacion - 4 (8%)
Of 48 people, 6 people didn't really notice smells and 6 didn't really care at all, so that means 25% of the sample wouldn't care what you smell like. 4 people actively disliked perfumes and aftershaves on other people, finding them excessive and a bit much. But they only made up 8% of the complete sample.
The most interesting thing I came across in her study was the sex difference. Women's answers were split:
Positive: 17 (77%)
Neutral: 3 (13%)
Negative: 2 (10%)
But the men responded with:
Positive: 15 (58%)
Neutral: 9 (35%)
Negative: 2 (8%)
This seems to imply that women are more swayed by scents that men are, with a whacking great 77% (over 3/4 of all women who responded) will react positively to scents on someone. Implicit in the same results is that men care less about scents with 58%, so somewhat over half of the male respondants reacting positively, but with over 1/3 not really giving a damn one way or the other.
Perfume advertising is generally aimed at women (the ones who care), and often implies it will make you more appealling to potential sexual partners. We live in a predominantly heterosexual culture, so it appears that perfume won't work as well as they'd like women to think.
I guess I should try out some more aftershaves.
Only 22% of people use scent regularly, 38% of people never touch it, 42% of people don't own any, and women tend to own more than men. When it comes to how other people smell:
Positive Reaction - 32 (67%)
Neutral Reaction - 12 (25%)
Negative Reacion - 4 (8%)
Of 48 people, 6 people didn't really notice smells and 6 didn't really care at all, so that means 25% of the sample wouldn't care what you smell like. 4 people actively disliked perfumes and aftershaves on other people, finding them excessive and a bit much. But they only made up 8% of the complete sample.
The most interesting thing I came across in her study was the sex difference. Women's answers were split:
Positive: 17 (77%)
Neutral: 3 (13%)
Negative: 2 (10%)
But the men responded with:
Positive: 15 (58%)
Neutral: 9 (35%)
Negative: 2 (8%)
This seems to imply that women are more swayed by scents that men are, with a whacking great 77% (over 3/4 of all women who responded) will react positively to scents on someone. Implicit in the same results is that men care less about scents with 58%, so somewhat over half of the male respondants reacting positively, but with over 1/3 not really giving a damn one way or the other.
Perfume advertising is generally aimed at women (the ones who care), and often implies it will make you more appealling to potential sexual partners. We live in a predominantly heterosexual culture, so it appears that perfume won't work as well as they'd like women to think.
I guess I should try out some more aftershaves.
Fab - Wednesday 21st March, 2007 16:10 Too small a sample to be an accurate measure?
I have certainly had girls commenting on how nice my aftershave is and I almost never forget to put some on in the morning. I also have a very sensitive nose so how someone (including myself) smells is going to bother me.
Allure Sport gets good comments from women... As did Dune, but I have not seen that around in ages.
I have certainly had girls commenting on how nice my aftershave is and I almost never forget to put some on in the morning. I also have a very sensitive nose so how someone (including myself) smells is going to bother me.
Allure Sport gets good comments from women... As did Dune, but I have not seen that around in ages.