Adaptive preference target: Contribution of Kano’s model of satisfaction for an optimized preference analysis using a sequential consumer test

Kano’s model of satisfaction leads to a typology of product attributes to distinguish between those contributing solely to consumer satisfaction, those contributing only to consumer dissatisfaction and those which contribute to both satisfaction and dissatisfaction. In line with this model, we propose a new preference mapping (PrefMap) methodology called adaptive preference target (APT). To explore a given product category APT, using a sequential consumer test, prioritizes products to be tasted by each consumer by taking into account his/her personal preference and rejection. This new approach for external preference mapping enables the classification of the key sensory attributes influencing hedonic appreciation into “attractive”, “must-be” or “performance” attributes and thus hierarchizes the tasks to reach the ideal product for new product development.

APT and standard PrefMap were compared for a sweet dry biscuits survey with the same consumers. Results highlight the relevance of Kano’s model of satisfaction applied to preference mapping. Thanks to this adapted product selection, we conclude that, in our example, we can better explain consumer appreciation. Finally, APT can be considered to be a methodology which reduces the number of products to be tasted while remaining precise in the definition of the ideal product.     

Defining and characterizing the “nutty” attribute across food categories

The term “nutty” has been used to describe a vast array of foods including many foods outside the realm of nuts. However, it is not clear if “nutty” is a single term or if it takes various forms, depending on the type of product. The objective of this study was to determine whether a single nutty term could be used to describe nuttiness in all food products or if additional terms were needed. More than 200 products with potential nutty flavor, including nuts, nut spreads, grains/cereals, seeds, beans/legumes, oils, cheeses, fish, and beverages, were studied. Five “nutty” concepts were found and described with terms, definitions, and references with intensity ratings: overall nutty, nutty-beany, nutty-buttery, nutty-grain-like, and nutty-woody. Four of those attributes, excluding overall nutty, were single concept attributes that described subgroups of nuttiness. Specific terms, such as peanut or almond, that describe a certain type of nut but are separate from the “nutty” character were excluded intentionally because they do not describe nutty, they describe an overall concept flavor beyond nutty. A second panel of trained assessors was used to review the lexicon. This panel used this lexicon to describe a set of 10 products (nuts, grains, beans, seeds, cheeses) and determine if any additional attributes were needed to describe nuttiness. All of the products displayed varying intensities of the nutty attributes and the panel found no additional terms for the “nutty” component were needed. The development and verification of the lexicon has real-world application because it can assist in product development and quality assurance when describing foods with a “nutty” attribute. These terms can be applied across all food categories and is not exclusive to characterizing nuts.     

Consumer preferences and willingness to pay for value-added chicken product attributes

A growing demand for convenient and ready-to-eat products has increased poultry processors' interest in developing consumer-oriented value-added chicken products. In this study, a conjoint analysis survey of 276 chicken consumers in Edmonton was conducted during the summer of 2009 to assess the importance of the chicken part, production method, processing method, storage method, the presence of added flavor, and cooking method on consumer preferences for different value-added chicken product attributes. Estimates of consumer willingness to pay (WTP) premium prices for different combinations of value-added chicken attributes were also determined. Participants'"ideal" chicken product was a refrigerated product made with free-range chicken breast, produced with no additives or preservatives and no added flavor, which could be oven heated or pan heated. Half of all participants on average were willing to pay 30% more for a value-added chicken product over the price of a conventional product. Overall, young consumers, individuals who shop at Farmers' Markets and those who prefer free-range or organic products were more likely to pay a premium for value-added chicken products. As expected, consumers' WTP was affected negatively by product price. Combined knowledge of consumer product attribute preferences and consumer WTP for value-added chicken products can help the poultry industry design innovative value-added chicken products. Practical Application: An optimum combination of product attributes desired by consumers for the development of a new value-added chicken product, as well as the WTP for this product, have been identified in this study. This information is relevant to the poultry industry to enhance consumer satisfaction of future value-added chicken products and provide the tools for future profit growth.     

Consumer Input for Developing Human Food Products Made with Sorghum Grain

Abstract: Because sorghum grain has important characteristics (for example, great antioxidant profile) for introduction into the regular human diet, producers and industry aim to develop successful products using sorghum as the base. The 1st step in developing products attractive for consumers is understanding consumer needs and expectations. Conjoint analysis determines attributes which may be important or unimportant for one product. In this study, focus groups and conjoint analysis were used to establish which attributes are helpful for promoting purchase intent of sorghum grain products. Once those characteristics were chosen, a national survey was conducted to confirm the selection. During the focus groups, the heath aspects of grain products seemed to be the most appealing for consumers, whereas conjoint analysis showed that sensory attributes were the principal drivers for purchase intent. Practical Application: The data presented in this study are essential for industry as a starting point for developing sorghum grain based food products. It is necessary to address consumers’ demands to ensure new products’ success in the market, and the present study clearly shows this consumers’ input.     

Visualization of temporal differences between dominant perceptions in temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) and temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) perceptions using dominance-highlighted TCATA (dTCATA) curves

The temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) method measures dynamic changes of panelists’ attention to the sensory attributes of products. The temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) method measures all sensory attributes perceived at each moment of an evaluation. However, unlike in TDS, significant levels cannot be calculated in TCATA. This study proposes the use of dominance-highlighted TCATA (dTCATA) curves, which are highlighted TCATA curves that show significant time periods for the TDS data of different panels. Twelve R&D panelists evaluated five commercial corn soups using the TCATA method. Then, 125 consumer panelists evaluated the same products using the TDS method. The dTCATA curves showed TCATA curves for all attributes for each product evaluated by the R&D panel highlighted with the dominance rates identified by the consumer panel in the TDS evaluation. For example, for product 1, some attributes (sweet, viscosity) showed relatively high citation proportions in the TCATA evaluations of the R&D panel and significant dominance rates in the TDS evaluations of the consumer panel. In contrast, consommé flavor showed relatively low citation proportions in TCATA but significant dominance rates in TDS. By merging TDS and TCATA data, we could compare consumers’ dominant sensations with the evaluations of R&D panelists. This comparison could provide useful insights to product developers. In some cases, we observed attributes with significant dominance rates that were under-identified by the R&D panel in TCATA. This could suggest that most of the R&D panel may not have perceived these attributes; therefore, during product development, these attributes should be carefully considered.     

Impacts of situational factors on process attribute uses for food purchases

Consumer buying decisions for food reflect considerations about food production.However, consumers’ interest in process-related product characteristics does not always translate into buying intentions. The present study investigates how situational factors affect the use of process-related considerations when consumers select food products. A conjoint study provides estimated part worth utilities for product alternatives that differ on five product attributes (including four process-related factors) across two products (bread and sports drink) that differ on perceived naturalness. The investigation of the utilities of the process-related attributes features both an internal (priming of environmental values/value centrality) and an external (time pressure) situational factor. The results indicate that the importance of process-related attributes is product specific and also depends on situational factors.     

Creative design—an efficient tool for product development

This paper discusses a new way of utilising experimental design methodology in product development. The technique is based on first generating a design in the attributes given by the original product concept. The product developer then uses these “recipes” to develop concrete prototype products to be tested by the consumers. In this way systematic aspects are taken care of, but still leaving a lot of open space for the product developer to fill. This way of using experimental design in product development ensures efficient utilisation of all possible creativity and experience available at the same time as a systematic exploration of the space of possible products is also taken care of.     

Sample temperatures can modulate both emotional responses to and sensory attributes of tomato soup samples

This study aimed to determine how sample temperatures affect sensory attributes of and emotional responses to tomato soup samples. Six professionally-trained panelists evaluated two tomato soup products randomly served at four temperatures: 25, 40, 55, and 70 °C, and rated intensities of 29 attributes. Trained panelists found that five attributes changed with sample temperature of tomato soup. A total of 103 consumers also evaluated the same tomato soup products served at four temperatures using check-all-that-apply (CATA) ballots related to sensory attributes and emotional responses. The 27 emotional and 20 sensory attributes differed significantly among samples of two product types served at four temperatures. A principal component analysis showed that variation in sensory attributes could better be explained by product type rather than sample temperature, while emotional-response variation was attributed more to sample temperature than to product type. Sensory and emotional drivers of liking were also found to differ with sample temperature. Another study in which 66 consumers characterized sensory and emotional attributes of purified water at the four temperatures was conducted. Consumer emotional responses to water samples changed with sample temperature, while sensory perception varied only minimally. In conclusion, our findings provide empirical evidence that sample temperature significantly influences both emotional responses and sensory attributes, and temperature effects vary with the type of food.     

Effect of Thermal Sterilization on the Selected Quality Attributes of Sweet and Sour Carp

In this study, a traditional Chinese dish, a ready-to-eat sweet and sour carp was developed. The effects of sterilization temperature (110, 115, 121, and 130°C) on the selected properties, including heat penetration characteristics, as well as rheological, instrumental color, texture, and sensory attributes, were investigated at the same lethality value (F₀) of 4.5 min. The results showed that the heat penetration parameters of cooking value (C-value) and the ratio of C-value to F₀ value (C-value/F₀) exhibited an inverse relationship with processing temperature. The color and rheological properties of the sauce and the texture of the fish sterilized at 130°C were better preserved compared to those sterilized at other temperatures. The sensory attributes of the product sterilized at 130°C scored highest among the final products sterilized at the four temperatures. This study suggested that short-time sterilization at a high temperature can minimize the negative thermal impact on sweet and sour carp product, which would be feasible in the practical production.     

Generalized Pairwise Correlation and method comparison: Impact assessment for JAR attributes on overall liking

In product development using JAR (Just-About-Right) scales, it is important to identify precisely, which direction of a given attribute affects hedonic scores the most. The Generalized Pairwise Correlation Method (GPCM) is a non-parametric one and it is useful to rank JAR variables according to their impact on liking. This is done using appropriate statistical tests: the McNemar’s, the Chi-square, the Conditional Fisher’s and the Williams’ t-test. As GPCM requires one-directional variables, JAR data needs to be transformed based on the dummy variable approach. GPCM gives those attributes in that order, which should be increased/decreased to gain higher consumer liking scores. An order can be created according to the impact on liking, which order determines the development of product attributes, as well. The non-parametric tests incorporated in the method are able to identify smaller differences than other statistical methods. As a result, GPCM identifies more significant product attributes; hence, it can help product development processes even if other methods cannot.     

Monitoring the Quality of Perishable Foods: Opportunities for Intelligent Packaging

This review paper discusses opportunities for intelligent packaging for monitoring directly or indirectly quality attributes of perishable packaged foods. The possible roles of intelligent packaging as a tool in supply chain management are discussed as well as the barriers to implement this kind of technology in commercial applications. Cases on pasteurized milk and fresh cod fillets illustrate the application of different intelligent packaging concepts to monitor and estimate quality attributes. Conditions influencing quality (e.g., temperature–time) can be monitored to predict the quality of perishable products when the initial quality is known and rather constant (e.g., pasteurized milk). Products with a highly variable initial quality (e.g., fresh fish) require sensors monitoring compounds correlated with quality.     

Food processing by high hydrostatic pressure

The use of high hydrostatic pressures (HHP) for food processing is finding increased application within the food industry. One of the advantages of this technology is that because it does not use heat, sensory, and nutritional attributes of the product remain virtually unaffected, thus yielding products with better quality than those processed traditional methods. HHP have the ability to inactivate microorganisms as well as enzymes responsible for shortening the life of a product. In addition to lengthening the shelf-life of food products, HHP can modify functional properties of components such as proteins, which in turn can lead to the development of new products. Equipment for large-scale production of HHP processed products are commercially available nowadays. Guacamole, sliced ham, oysters, and fruit juices are some of the products currently available on the market. HHP technology is one of the most promising nonthermal processes.     

Temporal dominance of emotions: Measuring dynamics of food-related emotions during consumption

Mapping food-evoked emotions in addition to sensory profiling is topical. In sensory profiling, the Temporal Dominance of Sensation (TDS) method focuses on the assessment of the temporal evolution of dominant sensory attributes over time. We hypothesize that food-evoked emotions also show temporal dynamics that can be related to dynamic sensory perception. This study assessed temporal dynamics of sensory and emotional attributes during chocolate tasting. We used TDS to determine dynamic sensory properties of dark chocolates providing a list of 10 sensory attributes. Comparably, Temporal Dominance of Emotions (TDE) was assessed by replacing the sensory attributes with 10 emotional attributes. Sixty-two participants assessed TDS and TDE of five commercially available dark chocolates (plain and flavoured). Multivariate comparisons (Hotelling test) showed significant differences between products based on the dominance duration of sensory (p < 0.05) and emotional attributes (p < 0.05). TDS difference curves revealed products to differ based on their dominant sensory attributes, with different attributes peaking at different time moments. TDE difference curves showed that products also differed in the temporal distribution of dominant emotional attributes. Comparing the average dominance rates between plain dark and flavoured dark chocolates revealed that for flavoured dark chocolates mainly flavour attributes and positive/active emotions were perceived as salient whereas for plain dark chocolates textural as well as taste attributes were dominant accompanied by more negative/non-energetic emotions. A joint CVA plot on the duration of dominance for sensory and emotional attributes per product revealed that temporal evolution of sensory – and emotional attributes was related. This suggests a mutual reciprocity between those two entities (sensory and emotional attributes) resulting in more complex, richer product characterization. In conclusion, these findings show TDE to be a promising new venue in characterising food-evoked emotions in relation to sensory profiling.     

MICROSTRUCTURAL CHARACTERISTICS AND COMPRESSION RESISTANCE AS INDICES OF SENSORY TEXTURE IN A CRUNCHY SNACK PRODUCT

Identically formulated drum dried and cold formed half-products were puffed in hot air or by frying to determine microstructure-texture relationships. Structural attributes measured were cell size (CS), number of cells per unit area (CN), cell wall thickness (CW) and product specific volume (SV). Sensory attributes of crunchiness, hardness and density were also evaluated. Puffed product microstructure depended more on the half-product preparation process than the method of puffing. Similarly prepared half products had the same microstructural attributes whether fried or hot air puffed. Sensory scores for crunchiness were not significantly different among all samples but scores for hardness and density were significantly different between hot air puffed and fried products even when microstructural attributes were similar. Higher compression force values reflected lower sensory scores for crunchiness and hardness of puffed products. Compression force was significantly correlated with microstructural attributes of CS, CW and SV.     

Consumer segmentation based on food neophobia and its application to product development

When evaluating the acceptability of food products, companies often focus on specific demographics for recruiting and screening consumers. However, this information may not necessarily explain the variability in the test results. Other elements, such as consumer psychographic profiles, may help better understand test participants’ responses. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of food neophobia (reluctance to/avoidance of novel foods) on acceptability of novel food items. Six salad dressings with novel flavor combinations were chosen for evaluation in a central location test. Consumers were screened using the food neophobia scale (Pliner & Hobden, 1992) as well as liking of salad dressings. Each subject evaluated three of six dressings for hedonic and diagnostic attributes. Neophobic subjects rated the salad dressings significantly lower (p < 0.05) than neophilics for all hedonic attributes with the exception of appearance. These results were consistent for all dressings. However, when looking at the hedonic mean scores from both groups, the products were ranked in similar order in that the best liked and least liked dressing for the neophilic group was the same as those for the neophobic group. For diagnostic attributes, while the mean scores were significantly different for neophobics and neophilics, the percentage of “just-about-right” scores did not differ. These results suggest that food neophobia may impact the degree with which a product is liked or disliked by consumers, but it may not affect how products are ranked based on hedonic mean scores. Therefore, while understanding the psychographic composition of a consumer test respondent base may help explain why some products score higher or lower in acceptability, it may not alter the sensory guidance provided to product development regarding the specific flavor and texture attributes that were tested.