The order of tasting and information presentation in an experimental auction matters

Experimental auctions are used to determine the price consumers are willing to pay for products with specific attributes, including sensory attributes. Previous experimental auctions have demonstrated that taste is an important factor in determining panelist bid price. Those auctions generally conducted the tasting after providing the explicit product information. Our objective was to determine the relative difference in panelist bidding prices between tasting apple samples before verses after observing displays containing explicit information about the apples. We chose four apple varieties for this study: Honeycrisp, Braeburn, Pink Lady and Red Delicious. Each variety of apple had been grown under two conditions: conventional and organic. A total of 86 panelists participated in one of two information scenarios. Panelists in the first scenario first tasted the apples and placed individual bids for one pound of each of the apple samples. They then viewed information displays (apple name and growing condition) of the apples and placed a second bid. The process was reversed for the panelists in the second scenario in that the information was given before the tasting. When the sensory properties of products were presented before other product information, the impact of the explicit product information was minimized. When product information was presented before the sensory evaluation, it biased the bid prices. To better understand the influence of both the implicit sensory properties and the explicit product information, presentation orders of both types of information should be balanced in an experimental auction.