Chemosensory Perception Consulting

Person pushing shopping cart in supermarket aisle

Thought leadership

Is There a Class in Your Class Action?

How does Exponent help clients navigate sensory-based claim substantiation?

Smell and taste play vital roles for consumers, influencing preferences and buying decisions for products ranging from food and beverages to cosmetics, cars, clothing and personal goods, household and cleaning products, and more. Exponent offers innovative scientific solutions for product manufacturers, distributors, and sellers, helping them understand certain attributes that may influence human perception and supporting the design of rigorous studies to address possible product liability or claim substantiation concerns.

Our multidisciplinary regulatory, sensory science, and flavor chemistry experts have years of experience evaluating products and validating science-based marketing claims to industry standards and regulatory specifications to help clients make data-based decisions that impact consumer appeal, market differentiation, and product effectiveness.

Capabilities

Our multidisciplinary teams are ready to provide chemosensory testing and analysis, claim substantiation and validation, and regulatory support to consumer product companies across industries, including food and beverage, personal and home fragrance, automotive, textile, fitness accessories, electronics, personal care products, cosmetics, and more.

By employing state-of-the-art methodologies and scientific techniques, Exponent helps clients understand how users perceive their products, from all-purpose surface cleaners to lotions and footwear, to aroma cartridges in VR headsets. Our multidisciplinary scientists and engineers conduct rigorous assessments to help products meet consumer expectations while also fulfilling regulatory standards.
We provide sensory testing, chemical analysis, and rigorous evaluations — often for multiple formulations and a multitude of potential, market-differentiating claims per product — that give clients critical insights into product performance and consumer acceptance. This enables manufacturers to optimize product formulations, enhance quality, and create a compelling sensory experience for their target market.
Our consultants offer consumer product manufacturers meticulous, science-based substantiation and validation services for efficacy and marketing claims across industries. Exponent's multidisciplinary approach, global reach, and expertise in sensory and flavor chemistry allow us to provide timely, responsive, and rigorous scientific support for complex challenges involving human-product interactions. To assess product and marketing claims involving human smell or taste perception, our sensory scientists design and execute rigorous tests with human participants, evaluating product perception and producing evidence-based results for new or existing products.
Exponent provides unmatched experience and expertise to manufacturers of consumer electronics, cosmetics, cleaning products, food, packaging, and much more, guiding them through complex compliance with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food & Drug Administration (FDA), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and National Advertising Division (NAD). Our experts are also well-versed in consumer product-specific regulations such as the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act (MoCRA) and state-based VOC emissions limits established by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), offering clients strategic guidance and thorough evaluations throughout the entire product lifecycle, including possible consumer chemosensory perception impacts resulting from regulatory compliance-driven formulation changes.

What Can We Help You Solve?

With years of experience and unmatched expertise, our chemical regulation and sensory perception consultants help clients analyze the sensory interactions between users and products. Exponent's chemosensory scientists design rigorous tests with human subjects to support manufacturers in making evidence-based decisions about aroma and taste in products across industries.

Experts

Our global and comprehensive expertise across industries gives us a deep understanding of current challenges, best industry practices, and the implications of emerging technologies.