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Laura Ims, brand manager for Puffs said, "This launch means the comingtogether of two powerful P&G brands -- Puffs and Vicks -- that have bothprovided familiar comfort to consumers for years. Knowing the sense of smellis so powerful for many people, we wanted to explore the impact of scent onempathy, the core of a mom's love and care."
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Puffs conducted a first-of-its-kind study with Dr. Alan Hirsch a leadingscent expert and founder of the Smell & Taste Treatment and ResearchFoundation. The study found that scents can increase empathy, the ability torecognize, perceive and directly feel the emotion of another.
"Empathy is a complex emotion that is important for so many socialinteractions, including parenting," said Hirsch. "Scents that comforted us inour childhood etch in our memories and can increase our empathetic responsewhen we smell them again."
Study results showed a 17 percent increase in empathy for participants inthe presence of Puffs Plus with the scent of Vicks. In addition, nearly halfthe participants reported feelings of nostalgia with the Vicks scent, such aschildhood memories of their mom comforting them with Vicks. Results alsofound that participants who experienced nostalgia had a greater empatheticresponse.
"The reason why nostalgic participants were more empathetic could be thatthey learned to be empathetic in the presence of the scent of Vicks, just liketheir mom was to them when they were sick as children," said Hirsch.
In the study, 100 participants were asked to react to seven differentreal-life situations designed to elicit empathy. Participants wrote theirresponses to those situations, while being alternately exposed to a non-scented tissue and Puffs Plus with the scent of Vicks. Each response was thenindependently scored based on how empathetic it was. Responses written in thepresence of the scent of Vicks were separated from responses written withoutexposure to the scent. Tabulated results showed that in the presence of theVicks scent, participants reacted more empathetically than when they didn'thave the scent stimulus.
About Puffs Plus with the scent of Vicks(R)
Puffs Plus with the scent of Vicks(R) is a non-medicated, scented whitefacial tissue. It combines soothing lotion with the comforting scent of Vicksto provide a touch of mom in every tissue. Look for Puffs Plus with the scentof Vicks(R) in a variety of sizes nationwide across many major grocery, mass,retail, club and drug stores in the Fall of 2007. Puffs Plus with the scentof Vicks(R) is marketed and manufactured by Procter & Gamble (P&G).
About Dr. Alan Hirsch
Dr. Alan Hirsch is founder and neurological director of the Smell & TasteTreatment and Research Foundation in Chicago. Dr. Hirsch specializes in theevaluation, diagnosis and treatment of many smell-and-taste related disorders.
He has conducted more than 180 studies on sensory phenomena and disordersexploring how enhancing certain smells and tastes can impact eating patterns,mood, perception and learning speed. He is currently conducting more than 80studies on the effects of smell and taste on weight loss, sleep, and consumerpreferences, among many others.
About Procter & Gamble
Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around theworld. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality,leadership brands, including Pampers(R), Tide(R), Ariel(R), Always(R),Whisper(R), Pantene(R), Mach3(R), Bounty(R), Dawn(R), Pringles(R), Folgers(R),Charmin(R), Downy(R), Lenor(R), Iams(R), Crest(R), Oral-B(R), Actonel(R),
