Analysis of Impression Evaluation of Fragrances Associated with ‘Omotenashi’ in Elderly People using Perfumes

: In this study, we used 6 different fragrances to better understand the tendency of scents to elicit a sense of omotenashi (hospitality) in elderly people. To first understand how elderly people perceive scents associated with feelings of omotenashi we performed an impression evaluation using SD method of 22 adjective pairs. We then analyzed the results taken from a questionnaire survey we conducted on 51 elderly Japanese men and women using a factor analysis, and extracted the factors that represent sensations of scents which produced a sense of omotenashi . Our subsequent examination of the main underlying factors indicated that scents with sensations of freshness, adulthood and pleasure hinted a sense of omotenashi in scents for elderly people. We also noted differences in the way the scent was perceived compared to young people.