More than a third of new cosmetic products fail on the market. Bregaglio, a subsidiary of Zschimmer & Schwarz based in Italy, is conducting a new Consumer Neuroscience Project to test the subconscious reactions of consumers to products and ingredients. After all, neurologically based marketing offers the opportunity to increase the success rate of new products and ingredients.

Emotions and subconscious interactions between customers and products have a significant impact on product selection and the decision to purchase the product. In order to detect these emotional and physiological variations in real time while using an ingredient or product, Bregaglio uses sophisticated software and tools: a portable headset measures the brain waves, while electrodes on the fingers monitor perspiration and a special software examines the involuntary facial expressions of the test subjects.

For Bregaglio’s customers, the results of these tests could mean a decisive competitive edge. Integrated data sheets, for example, do not only provide information about physical and chemical characteristics as well as the test results on the efficacy of a product’s ingredients. They also include the results of neuroscientific tests. This allows Bregaglio to make it easier for its customers to develop cosmetics that promise success.