The emotional response to wine consumption

Emotion may be defined as a special perception that informs us about current body status and its modification due to internal or external stimuli and feelings such as mental representations of bodily changes, including thoughts (Damasio, 2003). Emotions have been generally associated with products but there has been little published research on emotions related to food, and more specifically to wine. Every culture may describe its emotions in different ways and may have its own emotional lexicon, allowing feelings to be socially shared: the purpose of this research is to develop a list of emotional adjectives appropriate to the Italian culture to describe the feelings of wine consumers. By means of three studies, we selected 16 words which allow wine consumers to describe their feelings while consuming wine. The emotion terms selected could be divided into two categories: high/low arousal and high/low pleasantness. Unlike the general prevalence in the emotional lexicon of languages of words expressing unpleasant emotions, most of the 16 Italian terms focused on emotions elicited by wine consumption fall into the pleasure category.     

Comparison of methods to develop an emotional lexicon of wine: Conventional vs rapid-method approach

The development of emotional lexicons can be seen as a time- and resource-consuming activity. Several rapid methods have been developed for time-restricted studies, but the suitability of these methodologies in the development of emotional lexicons compared to conventional ones has not been investigated.The aim of this study was to test the suitability of a rapid method, as it is the Sorting Task, for emotional lexicon development compared to a conventional procedure. For this purpose, two different approaches (conventional vs rapid-method) were tested to evaluate wines.222 consumers participated in the lexicon development procedure. A common phase of generation and filtering of the terms was carried out for the development of both lexicons. Then, two approaches were used, one applying the procedures proposed in the literature (conventional, herein as Lexicon I) and the other applying Sorting Task (rapid-method, herein as Lexicon II). To test both lexicons, consumer studies (n = 185) were conducted using a set of seven commercial wines.Both methods were helpful in discriminating emotional responses. Lexicon I reported a wine effect for 10 of the 13 emotional categories, while the Lexicon II discriminated the samples in all 15 categories. Although multifactorial analysis showed a high agreement between configurations (RV = 0.985), the emotional map of both lexicons did not follow the theoretical circumplex model of emotions. SADNESS and NOSTALGIA feelings were related to the second axis.In conclusion, both methods provided similar maps of wines, but Lexicon II was more efficient in terms of time and resources during the lexicon development.     

Improvement of an emotional lexicon for the evaluation of beers

Emotional response has been the subject of many studies during the last years. Many studies have shown the importance of using consumers to generate emotional lexicons. Chaya et al. (2015) developed a consumer defined (CD) lexicon to assess emotional response elicited by beer products. Shortly after, van Zyl and Meiselman (2015) presented a procedure to ensure that emotional lists were fully composed by emotions. The present research was developed to improve and test the lexicon developed by Chaya et al. (2015) following the approach proposed by van Zyl and Meiselman (2015). The proposed procedure allowed an easy filtering of terms for the study of emotional response. As a consequence, the test was shorter, clearer, and easier to understand and to complete by consumers. The improved emotional lexicon of beer favoured 1) the efficiency of the research in terms of discrimination among samples, 2) the simplicity of use by the consumers.     

Developing a reduced consumer-led lexicon to measure emotional response to beer

Previous researchers have recently recommended and utilised consumer-led lexicons to measure emotional response. This study further advances this approach by (1) making the lexicon generation process more efficient by using consumer focus groups as opposed to individual consumer interviews and (2) decreasing the number of responses required from each consumer by reducing the lexicon to categories of similar terms. In response to 10 lager samples which were manipulated in order to control selected sensory properties, focus groups generated a lexicon of 44 emotion terms. This lexicon was reduced to 12 distinct emotion categories using linguistic checks and cluster analysis. Naïve beer consumers (n = 113) used these 12 emotion categories to rate their emotional response to the 10 samples. The reduced consumer-led lexicon was validated through its ability to discriminate across samples as well as show differences in emotional response between genders and age groups. The 12 emotion categories were found to discriminate well between samples, although a number of categories grouped samples similarly. However, differences in responses to otherwise comparable emotion categories were identified between genders and age groups, highlighting the importance of including all emotion categories so as to not over-reduce the lexicon and risk missing out on valuable emotion data.     

Assessment of caffeine intake in the Korean population

An improved method for the analysis of caffeine in foods by HPLC was validated by measuring several analytical parameters. The caffeine contents of 1202 products available from Korean markets were analysed. A consumption study was conducted by using data from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), 2010–12, to estimate the caffeine intakes of the Korean population. The mean intakes of caffeine from all sources in the general population and consumers were 67.8 and 102.6 mg day^?1 for all age groups, respectively. The 95th percentile intakes of the general population and consumers were 250.7 and 313.7 mg day^?1, respectively. In those aged 30–49 years, the caffeine intakes of the general population and consumers were highest at 25.5% (101.8 mg kg^?1 day^?1) and 36.6% (0.9 mg kg^?1 day^?1), respectively, compared with the maximum recommended daily intake (400 mg day^?1) for adults. In the general population, the main contributors to the total caffeine intake were carbonated beverage for the younger age groups and coffee for the adults. These data provide a current perspective on caffeine intake in the Korean population.     

Comparison of consumer perception and liking of <Emphasis Type="Italic">bulgogi</Emphasis> marinade sauces between Korea and Japan using flash profiling

This study compared the perception of and preference for seven bulgogi marinade sauces between Korean and Japanese consumers. Flash profiling (10 panelists each) and consumer test (97 Japanese and 102 Koreans) were conducted. Results showed that both Korean and Japanese panelists perceived the samples similarly but described using different terms. There were significant crosscultural differences in most liking and just-about-right attributes, except texture liking and sweetness. Both consumer panelists preferred sweeter samples, but Japanese consumers rated liking for less sweet samples higher than Korean consumers. Japanese consumers considered strong saltiness, umami, and soy sauce flavor as “just-about-right,” whereas Korean consumers considered the same levels as “much too strong”. Familiarity showed a significantly positive correlation with both Korean and Japanese consumers’ liking, but authenticity was only significantly correlated with Korean consumers’ liking. This indicates that perception of authenticity might not have a strong impact on Japanese consumers’ liking.     

Asians’ Facial Responsiveness to Basic Tastes by Automated Facial Expression Analysis System

Growing evidence shows that consumer choices in real life are mostly driven by unconscious mechanisms rather than conscious. The unconscious process could be measured by behavioral measurements. This study aims to apply automatic facial expression analysis technique for consumers’ emotion representation, and explore the relationships between sensory perception and facial responses. Basic taste solutions (sourness, sweetness, bitterness, umami, and saltiness) with 6 levels plus water were used, which could cover most of the tastes found in food and drink. The other contribution of this study is to analyze the characteristics of facial expressions and correlation between facial expressions and perceptive hedonic liking for Asian consumers. Up until now, the facial expression application researches only reported for western consumers, while few related researches investigated the facial responses during food consuming for Asian consumers. Experimental results indicated that facial expressions could identify different stimuli with various concentrations and different hedonic levels. The perceived liking increased at lower concentrations and decreased at higher concentrations, while samples with medium concentrations were perceived as the most pleasant except sweetness and bitterness. High correlations were founded between perceived intensities of bitterness, umami, saltiness, and facial reactions of disgust and fear. Facial expression disgust and anger could characterize emotion “dislike,” and happiness could characterize emotion “like,” while neutral could represent “neither like nor dislike.” The identified facial expressions agree with the perceived sensory emotions elicited by basic taste solutions. The correlation analysis between hedonic levels and facial expression intensities obtained in this study are in accordance with that discussed for western consumers.     

Implicit reaction vs explicit emotional response: Protected designation of origin in apple cider

The aim of the present study was to determine the implicit and explicit responses of consumers when evaluating two apple ciders of the same brand, being one of the samples a protected designation of origin (PDO) product. Samples were tested in blind conditions to determine if liking was different and was driven by the sensory properties. Then, brand images were also evaluated by consumers. Finally, the products were tested providing consumers with information about the specific cider that they were testing: showing the brand images during the test. The first phase of the study was designed to determine the implicit reaction of 52 consumers, recorded using biosensors capable of measuring skin conductance variations. For this phase, approximately 50% of consumers were familiar with the PDO logo, while the other 50% was not aware of the logo significance, and was clarified before the test. During the second phase of the study, the response of the consumers who were related with the logo significance was further investigated. A total of 65 consumers who were familiar with the PDO significance were recruited, and the same samples than in phase I were assessed. Liking, as well as emotions, using the EsSense25 lexicon, were documented. Significant differences were detected in arousal, and also in impact, between consumers groups. On the contrary, when studying the explicit response, liking and emotions were not significantly different for both cider samples. Implicit reaction might have indicated additional information which was lost when a rationalized response was provided.     

Measuring emotions associated with foods in consumer testing

The EsSense Profile? methodology, presented in 2008 and published in 2010, incorporates both overall acceptability and emotion measures in the consumer test questionnaire. This method provides a detailed list of emotion attributes that consumers associate with the test products. This list can be expanded or edited to account for specific emotions that may be appropriate in specific product categories and in specific applications. Data collection can use either choose all that apply (CATA) or data scaling (e.g., using a five-point scale). Both approaches provide useful information, however, the scaling approach provides more detail specifically when comparing products with small differences. This method has been used to guide product development efforts similar to that provided by traditional consumer tests, to map a product category, and most importantly, to relate the product to the brand essence, which typically conveys an emotional aspect of the product. The relationship between acceptability and emotions has been evaluated for different products and product categories. A few emotion terms relate to acceptability consistently; however, many of the emotions measured do not relate to acceptability. For example, males associated acceptability with two emotions, satisfied and (?) disgusted, therefore the remaining 37 emotions resulted in new information. Females, on the other hand, associated acceptability with 25 positive emotions, including joyful, good, happy, pleasant and (?) disgusted, leaving 14 emotions to express other attitudes about the products. This demonstrates that emotions provide additional information not explained by overall acceptability, resulting in a method that provides additional new information about the products.     

Analysis and risk assessment of furan in coffee products targeted to adolescents

The aim of this work was to analyse the furan concentrations in coffee products targeted to adolescents and to estimate the health risk for those consumers by using the consumption data of the Dortmund Nutritional and Anthropometric Longitudinally Designed Study (DONALD). Three different kinds of coffee beverages were analysed: 'coffee ready to drink' (i.e. industrially manufactured and packaged products available in cans or plastic cups), 'coffee instant' (i.e. soluble coffee in powder form) and 'coffee from coffee chains' (i.e. freshly prepared coffee sampled on-site). Furan was analysed according to the US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) method using headspace-GC-MS and quantification with standard addition. The lowest furan concentrations were found within the category 'coffee instant', with an average of 4.6 μg kg(-1), followed by the category 'coffee ready to drink', with an average of 41.3 μg kg(-1), while the products from the coffee chains showed the highest concentrations, on average 100.5 μg kg(-1). According to the obtained furan contents, it seems that the highest furan exposure for adolescents is generally given in the consumption of products within the category 'coffee from coffee chains', while the lowest is given in the category 'coffee instant'. Risk assessment based on the margin of exposure (MOE) approach showed that in different consumption scenarios except for consumers of instant coffee, the MOE lay below 10,000, a range that is judged to be of public health relevance. The lowest MOE was found for consumers in the age group 10-12 years (especially females) and for both sexes in the age group 16-18 years.     

Emotional responses to branded and unbranded foods

Investigating the emotions elicited by a product considering only its sensory characteristics or both its sensory characteristics and packaging/branding can give a deeper insight into product perception and can help companies in the design and optimisation of products that meet consumer expectations. The aim of this study was to (i) measure how liking changes across blind, package (expected) and informed conditions, and (ii) measure how emotions change across blind and informed conditions, in products representing the widest range of sensory variability and brand identity in the market category of hazelnut and cocoa spreads. In the first session participants (n = 120) tasted each product in a blind condition, expressed their liking and rated emotions using the EmoSemio questionnaire specifically developed for this product category (Spinelli, Masi, Dinnella, Zoboli, & Monteleone, 2014). Then consumers were asked to rate their expected liking for the products, presented in the original packaging by means of photos (pack/expected condition). After one week, consumers tasted each product presented with its own packaging (informed condition), expressed their liking and rated emotions.Emotions were very discriminating in both conditions: in the informed condition all the emotions significantly varied across samples, while in the blind condition 21 out of 23 (91.3%) varied.Results showed a correlation between liking (blind, expected and informed) and emotions. Complete assimilation of liking toward expectations was associated to an overall improvement of the emotional performance of the product: positive emotions increased in the case of complete assimilation towards the expectations, while negative emotions decreased. When there was a mismatch between expected liking evoked by packaging and blind liking (disconfirmation) but an assimilation effect was not found, some positive emotions significantly decreased in the informed condition compared to the blind one.This study suggests the importance of collecting emotion responses in both blind and informed conditions to detect changes in the emotional profile of products due to the brand/packaging providing information useful for product optimisation.     

Consumer preferences for iced coffee determined by conjoint analysis: an exploratory study with Norwegian consumers

The main aim of this study was to investigate consumer preferences for extrinsic attributes of iced coffee, explore consumers' coffee consumption habits, find new market opportunities and segment consumers based on similar products preferences. A sample of 101 consumers of iced coffee was recruited during 2012 in Norway. Twelve iced coffee products combining different levels of attributes such as coffee type, origin, calories and price were presented on screen and rated according to consumers' willingness to buy (WTB). Mixed model anova , principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS‐DA) were applied to analyse data. Results show that the most preferred products for the consumer sample as a whole were low‐price low‐calorie products, while age has a significant effect on WTB for different iced coffee products. Four different consumer segments based on type of iced coffee and country of production preferences were identified and discussed.     

Umami Increases Consumer Acceptability,and Perception of Sensory and Emotional Benefits without Compromising Health Benefit Perception

This study was undertaken to understand how consumers in the United States perceive umami‐rich products, specifically low sodium chicken noodle soup. Results suggest that the addition of monosodium l ‐glutamate (MSG) at a concentration of 0.1% to 0.5%, alone or in synergy with 5’‐ribonucleotides of inosine monophosphate (IMP) at 0.1% not only increases consumer acceptance but also positively impacts other aspects of consumer perception. Regardless of concentration of MSG and IMP, samples enhanced in umami compounds were perceived as more savory, flavorful, and less bland while providing a more homemade, fresh, and healthy wholesome taste than a control sample. From a functional and emotional benefit standpoint, when consuming umami‐rich samples, consumers reported feeling significantly higher general satisfaction (they felt more content, relaxed, satisfied, less disappointed, dissatisfied…) and heightened positive emotions (happy, excited, indulgent…) than under the control condition. The feeling of being healthy while consuming the dish was not compromised. Last, when asked how they would feel if serving the soup sample to their family or friends, consumers projected feeling more positively under the umami‐rich conditions (more happy, competent, loving, less dissatisfied or disappointed) compared to the control condition.     

服装生命周期中的四种情感关系

服装在整个生命周期过程中无时无刻不体现着情感的作用。情感在服装的生命周期中主要体现有四处,分别对应四种情感:设计情感、消费情感、着装情感和感受情感。现有的研究表明这些情感都是客观存在的,同时提出了这四种情感之间具有某种量化关系的假设。然后利用中文简化版PAD情感模型,以女裙装和男T恤为例对这四种情感之间的关系进行了研究。通过情感测试、数据分析建立了这四种情感之间的PAD关系模型,并且经过数据分析预测效果良好,从而验证了假设的正确性。该模型对服装设计、服装消费等研究和实践具有一定的积极意义。