C. EATON (1), C. Chaya (2), R. Fernández Vázquez (3), V.
Fernández-Ruiz (4), K. A. Smart (5), J. Hort (1); (1) University of
Nottingham, Nottingham, U.K.; (2) Technical University of Madrid,
Madrid, Spain; (3) University of Seville, Seville, Spain; (4)
Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain; (5) SABMiller plc.,
Woking, U.K.
Sensory I
Wednesday, June 4 - 10:00 a.m.-11:45 a.m.
Level 4, Red Lacquer Ballroom
In recent years, the study of emotional response has received increasing
attention at sensory science symposia. Emotional response has been
shown to inform product understanding beyond traditional liking measures
(Ng, M., et al. Food Qual. Pref. 28:193, 2013). This increased
understanding has potential implications for product development and
differentiation, as well as providing a common language for sensory and
branding/marketing. Previous research has revealed cross-cultural
differences in emotional response to aromas (Ferdenzi, C., et al. Emotion
11:1168, 2011). The present study aimed to investigate if such
emotional response differences exist between cultures in response to
selected sensory properties of beer. Ten lager samples were used
throughout this study. Two of the samples were “base” beers (commercial
lager and commercial non-alcohol lager). The other eight samples were
base beers “spiked” to increase selected sensory properties (e.g.,
adding iso-alpha-acids to commercial lager to increase bitterness).
Previous authors have utilized consumer-generated lexicons (Ng, M., et
al. Food Qual. Pref. 28:193, 2013; Chrea, C., et al. Chem. Senses
34:49, 2009), whereby relevant emotional terms are elicited by
consumers in response to relevant samples. The present study made use of
a modified emotional lexicon elicitation methodology where focus groups
were used as opposed to one-to-one interviews. Three focus groups of
5–7 consumers were carried out in both the United Kingdom (n = 17) and Spain (n
= 18). Participants generated emotional terms in response to the 10
samples using triadic elicitation, i.e., they were presented with three
samples at a time and were asked to describe how their emotional
response to any one sample was different to the other two. The generated
terms were collated into a master list in each country (43 terms in the
United Kingdom; 44 terms in Spain), and all 10 samples were rated in
the intensity of each emotion by the same participants who had generated
the terms. Linguistic checks and cluster analyses of the responses were
used to group terms into emotion categories. This stage allowed a
reduction in the number of questionnaire items for the subsequent
consumer survey, thereby permitting simpler cross-cultural comparisons
while also decreasing potential consumer boredom and fatigue in
subsequent stages. Nine emotion categories were defined in the United
Kingdom, and 12 emotion categories were separated in Spain. These
emotion categories were then used by over 100 consumers in each country
to assess the 10 samples. Each emotion category was presented to
consumers as a list of terms that belong to that category, and consumers
rated the intensity of this emotion category in response to each
sample. Using the data collected from the described method, this
presentation discusses the similarities and differences in emotional
response to the selected sensory properties of beer between U.K. and
Spanish consumers. The need to understand variation in emotional
response across cultures in the context of global products is also
highlighted.
Curtis Eaton is a final year, sensory science Ph.D. student at the
University of Nottingham, supervised by Joanne Hort (SABMiller Chair of
Sensory Science and head of brewing science). His research is supported
by SABMiller plc. and the University of Nottingham and focuses on the
measurement of emotional responses to the sensory properties of beer.
Curtis graduated from the University of Nottingham in 2008 with a first
class B.S. (with honors) in psychology.
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