The answers to this question have implications for the billion-dollar perfume industry. If body scent consistency is important for attracting a mate, perhaps perfume brand loyalty is important after all?

In a new study, published in the scientific Flavour and Fragrance Journal as part of the Special Issue ‘Human (mal)-odours: chemistry, biochemistry and perception’, researchers tested the repeatability in young women of their body odour preferences for male odour over a three-month period.

They also compared stability of body odour preferences with stability of face and fragrance preferences.

Researchers recruited a testing group of 63 women, aged between 18 and 32, from the University of Newcastle, UK. Six men were enlisted to provide odor, which was obtained by collecting cotton T-shirts that were slept in by the men for two nights, repeatedly over three months. The women were provided the T-shirts and asked to rate their scents on ‘desirability’, as well as rank the attractiveness of the six male faces in photos.

Results show that preferences for body odour and faces were highly repeatable and consistent. Since the odour stimuli used were repeated samples from the same set of men, repeatability of preferences also indicates odour constancy of individuals over time.

Researchers conclude that assessments of relative odour-based attractiveness are consistent over time, and act as an important cue for interpreting judgments on facial attractiveness. That is, individual body scent, body odour preferences, and mate attractiveness based on body-odour all seem to be consistent over time.

These results are meaningful for the perfume industry: when consumers identify a smell they enjoy and makes them feel attractive, they are likely to be loyal to it.