The Fragrance of Cyber World 2080: A Perfume Forecast

With COVID-19 causing people to work in a non-face-to-face mode, more of us have become aware of future forms of workspaces: a contactless workspace. With unprecedented methods of human engagement emerging, the perfume industry faces the need to evolve. This paper predicts the developing needs of next-generation perfume consumers and introduces survival tactics perfume businesses should adopt to catch up with the fast-paced changes. This study includes two surveys on 180 working adults. In these surveys, respondents spoke on their pre-pandemic and post-pandemic habits of using perfume, specifically their frequency of perfume use and preference of fragrance products categorized by fragrance type, scent duration, product form, and price. Results revealed that working in an isolated space has increased the liking for lighter scents, short-lived scents, perfume oils, single-use packaging, and lower price over heavier scents, long-lasting scents, fragrances and colognes, bottle packaging, and higher price. It showed from the study that the increased prevalence of private workspaces drove perfume from being a supplement for better social connections to being an investment for relaxation, satisfaction, and higher self-esteem. This paper includes a prototype - a sample “future perfume†- created based on these findings to propose what a perfume product might look like in a neo-workspace. This paper aims to investigate new consumer demand targeting the perfume industry and contribute to research on industrial adaptation and futurology.