Harmony between Colors and Fragrances: Effect on Dimensions of Impressions

The objective of this study is to extract dimensions in impressions of colors and fragrances, and to examine their harmonious relationship. Experiment A: One hundred subjects were requested to describe their impressions of eight fragrances, and to select harmonious/disharmonious colors from color charts. Experiment B: One hundred subjects described their impression of 18 colors and each color's degree of harmonization with each of the eight fragrances. In addition, we combined the results of Experiment A and Experiment B, and conducted several analyses. The factor analysis revealed the MILD factor and CLEAR factor for the dimensions of each fragrance, color, and combination of color and fragrance. The multiple regression analysis revealed the following tendency: the smaller the distance between colors and fragrances on the dimensions, the greater is the rise in harmony; conversely, the greater the distance, the greater is the disharmony.

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