May 6, 2024 - 3-5 Minutes
Part 1: How Odor Impacts Absorbent Hygiene Product User Experience
Smell has the best memory and emotional response of the five senses. That’s why controlling odor in your products can keep consumers from turning up their noses in dissatisfaction. Explore the sources of odor, how we perceive it, and its effect on consumers’ buying behavior and brand loyalty.
Have you ever noticed a fragrant or even offensive odor that brought back a memory or invoked an emotional response? It's a well-documented phenomenon.
Of the five senses, smell has the best memory and can recall long-forgotten events, images, and feelings. Certain aromas can evoke a sense of home, family, or a favorite activity. Others can create a powerful, negative reaction.
Odor of an absorbent hygiene product while in use is, to some degree, to be expected. But an unpleasant smell from the product itself, when it is removed from its packaging before use, is generally unexpected … and unwelcome. As a result, some manufacturers are focusing on improving the odor of their products. In articles free of perfumes (popular among some consumers), this can mean working toward no odor at all.
Part 1 of this blog series explores the sources of odor, how humans perceive it, and its effect on consumers’ buying behavior and brand loyalty. Part 2 will delve more deeply into techniques for testing and pinpointing odor sources, and addressing them.
Negative Impacts Associated With a Fresh Article
Product and brand loyalty can rely on many factors. Some are performance-related. But others, like smell, can operate on a more emotional level and affect how a shopper feels about a product. An unpleasant odor experienced when the personal care package is opened can cause the article to be viewed as being of low quality or flawed.
In addition, users of period care and adult incontinence products may worry that others can detect a scent, even if the odor is deliberate. (While some producers add a scent to help mask any unpleasantness, it may become recognizable as being from a hygiene article.) For incontinent adults in particular, this may heighten their sense of shame or the fear of their condition being revealed. This pertains both to products they are wearing and those carried with them for later use.
Hospitals, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes can experience the odor even more profoundly. A single package of adult diapers or pads may have a low aroma by itself. But, when large quantities are stored in a supply closet, the odor can become concentrated and highly noticeable. Caregivers, patients, residents, and visitors have been known to find this powerful scent off-putting.
Common Sources of Absorbent Hygiene Product Odor
Just as a diaper is made up of many components, so is its overall aroma. Primary sources can arise from anywhere in the supply chain and include:
- Raw materials
- Superabsorbent polymer (SAP)
- Pulp
- Films
- Elastics
- Adhesives
- Nonwovens
Two other factors of odor must be considered:
- Article manufacturing. Machinery, oils, and chemicals can contribute odors to the air. Certain interactions can also occur on today’s high-speed processes. More compact production lines may concentrate the volatile compounds emitted, magnifying the smell.
- Faster distribution. High-speed fulfillment and even direct-to-consumer sales can shorten the time between manufacturing and reaching consumers’ hands. With less time for dissipation of volatiles, any lingering odors will be stronger.
Moreover, while individual materials and environmental factors may contribute, the various scents can also combine and offset each other to create the diaper or pad’s overall odor profile. This can make identifying any single source difficult, as the cause may instead be a particular combination of materials used.
Odor Control After Urinary and Fecal Insult
Unlike some bodily fluids, urine begins with an odor that is inherent to its composition. It is then amplified as it begins to degrade with bacteria. The odor can be strongest in diapers that are worn for many hours or placed in a trash bin.
To help with discretion and minimize odor, the product should absorb quickly. In traditional diaper designs, this process relies on fluff and superabsorbent polymer (SAP). Trapping the insult within the SAP also helps prevent reactions with other elements of the diaper that can create additional odors.
As with baby diapers, articles for adult fecal incontinence rely more on quick removal and disposal to minimize odor. This is one reason many users of these products carry sealable plastic bags with them to contain the articles and their aroma.
Odor Perception and Its Impact on Absorbent Hygiene
The process by which we smell odor is complicated. It begins when an object emits volatile compounds into the air. If enough of these molecules reach the human olfactory system, a signal is sent to the brain, resulting in perception of the aroma.
Yet, humans have more than 300 genes dedicated to olfaction. This suggests that there is little probability that two people will ever perceive odor the exact same way. Personal associations with smells can further complicate matters.
There are also cultural and regional aspects. Certain scents can bring about either positive or negative feelings depending on an individual’s culture or the region of the world in which they live. Because of this, no observer’s categorization is universal.
Conversations about menstrual health and incontinence are becoming more open, commonplace, and less uncomfortable in many regions. Yet in others, the topics are still very taboo, and the chance of receiving feedback may be reduced. This puts the onus on manufacturers to take these cultural and regional aspects into consideration as they design, develop, and introduce their products to consumers in these geographies.
Odor Testing of Disposable Diapers and Pads
There are several ways to measure odor, but the industry has not settled on a standard method. Bostik experts recommend combining two common methodologies among the demonstrated best practices:
- Analytical techniques
- Sensory panels
The second post in this two-part series, “The Power of Testing to Control Odor in Absorbent Hygiene Products,” takes a closer look at combining specific techniques, and the task of achieving a more positive user experience.
If you are ready to start talking about odor concerns, considerations, and how choosing the right adhesives can help mitigate issues, contact a Bostik expert today.
©2024 Bostik, Inc. All Rights Reserved
All information contained herein is believed to be accurate as of the date of publication, is provided “as-is” and is subject to change without notice. To review our full U.S. Legal Disclaimer, visit: https://bostik.com/us/en_US/privacy-policy/legal-disclaimer