More communication on odour in textiles needed: report

21 Jun '17

3 min read

HeiQ, a leader in effective, durable, and high-performance textile innovation, recently conducted an in-depth consumer research study in May. According to the study, the awareness of anti-odour functionalities in clothing or home textiles is significantly low, and more communication about textile products empowered with odour control technologies is needed.

American consumers with an average level of activeness were interviewed on the topic of textile odour control, covering a wide range of home textiles to apparel. HeiQ’s Textile Market Knowledge Centre (TMKC) has notably shed light on the current consumer perception of odours on clothing and home textiles in general, and their level of awareness and involvement in embedded odour control technologies.

All participating consumers were concerned about odours on their textile goods, but their current solution only focuses on post-treatments, like higher frequency of washing, or using stronger washing aids such as bleaching and stronger detergent. None of them mentioned buying textile products with inbuilt textile technologies that prevent or fight against odours. However, once probed, they found it appealing if a textile product would prevent odours to develop or even tackle odours from the surrounding environment, according to the survey.

In fact, consumers were willing to pay a 15 per cent price premium for textiles with odour control functionality. Therefore, the implication for textile brands is that an extensive communication of their products with anti-odour performance would help consumers identify the right product that would solve their textile odour issues. During this in-depth consumer research study, HeiQ also tested different existing marketing messages from brands and ingredient brands and detected what method of communication works best.

If brands communicate that their products will not stink, and basically would not need an extra washing cycle, those brands can indirectly contribute to a reduced environmental footprint of their textile goods plus prolong the product’s lifetime, the report concluded.

Furthermore, the participating consumers were keen to gain more knowledge about the textile products of interest. Some of them mentioned that they search online for the product while they are in a store. Ingredient branding might be the solution to serve consumers with value-adding information directly from the ingredient brand’s website. At the same time, brands save the effort in building those required contents and rely on expert, compliant, and legally vetted communication.

According to reports, participating consumers would appreciate a solution that additionally eliminates unwelcome environmental odours from the textile, if available. HeiQ’s recently launched, 2-in-1 high-performance product, HeiQ Fresh AGOS (under the HeiQ Fresh Techfamily) inhibits the growth of odour-causing bacteria and at the same time sequesters surrounding bad smells, for a full odour control experience. (GK)

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India

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