Consumers trust that deep color disinfectants work better

Disinfectant use has exploded since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020, as people try to keep their hands and surfaces clean and safe. Sales of household cleaning and disinfectant products have risen by as much as 100% and it seems hygiene and health are two factors that will continue to be a focus.

Consumers want high standards of hygiene and forecasts show that cleaning and disinfectant products will be in increased demand for some time to come¹, both for daily anti-bacterial home use and for example in schools, shopping malls, hospitals and other public places where people congregate. But what are customers looking for and what do they trust?

A new Milliken Disinfectant Focus Group Consumer Study has found that the pandemic has changed consumers’ needs and mindsets. Before COVID-19 disinfectant was not thought of as a necessity in daily life, now, consumers believe that using disinfectant is a ‘must-do’ at home on a daily basis. Due to periodical short supplies of disinfectant products, they are also open to discovering and accepting new brands.

However, the study found some important unmet needs, including packaging, liquid content and product design. Many perceive that current packaging is too clinical and chemically focused triggering feelings of fear. They expect user friendlier packaging with arc shaped, easier to use caps or pump heads for better handling and safety. Buyers also wanted transparent packaging to be able to see what was left in a bottle as well as get a feel for the product inside.

This is where color comes in. Consumers associate different benefits with different colors – blue is pure and clean, green indicates eco-friendly and safe, purple is associated with anti-bacterial properties and yellow with freshness. The study also found that darker shades of all these colors were associated with better efficacy and anti-bacterial properties.

As experts in color, Milliken has joined forces with some home care manufacturers to create a ‘color philosophy’ for new products, including a Liquitint® dark color concept to help build stronger product trust, adjusting content color to help products look personalized.

Different from traditional dyes and pigments, cutting-edge Liquitint liquid polymeric colorants combine dynamic colors with excellent processability. They have been widely used in products for home and laundry care, and sanitation, for more than 20 years. Tailored for multiple applications they are compatible with active ingredients, water soluble, non-staining and can easily be washed out.

With Liquitint Colorants Milliken offers a rainbow of color shades with stable performance to match the product claims of disinfectants. In addition, Liquitint colorants, in combination with sustainable, transparent PP bottles, give brand owners an environmentally friendly solution for disinfectant packaging.

As color is often the first sensory contact consumers have with a product it’s important to make first impressions count. Milliken’s Liquitint dark color concept in transparent polypropylene (PP) packaging is a consumer win-win that can help transition some feelings of fear towards disinfectants, to a product association with better anti-bacterial performance and efficacy.

Reference
¹ https://www.jpmorgan.com/solutions/cib/research/covid-spending-habits