THE CONCEPT OF SENSORY QUALITY

Sensory evaluation is a growing discipline in the cosmetics and person al care products industry today. Having its roots in the food industry where most of the original methodology was developed, there are new c hallenges facing sensory scientists in applying these principles to sk in care, hair care, fragrance, etc. Sensory analysis has been used suc cessfully in new product development, product reformulation, stability , claims support, and competitive surveillance. It is critical that it now be applied to product quality. With the concept of total quality in the forefront thanks to the lessons Japan has taught us, it is esse ntial chat product sensory quality be monitored to fall within accepta ble ranges based on consumer perceptions of product quality. Consumers , in fact, buy sensory quality and consistency. The first signals of p roduct identity and performance are sensory signals-how the product th ey are about to purchase looks, feels, smells, etc. In companies where sensory performance is critical to product acceptance and efficacy, t he margin of error for sensory quality is very small. As with all prod uct development and support programs, sensory quality programs should be built upon consumer understanding-understanding how consumers defin e quality and what specific product parameters comprise it.