The relative influence of packaging, labelling, branding and sensory attributes on liking and purchase intent: Consumers differ in their responsiveness

Using combined eye tracking and word association in order to assess novel packaging solutions: A case study involving jam jars

Combining discrete choice and informed sensory testing in a two-stage process: can it predict wine market share?

Perception of wine quality according to extrinsic cues: The case of Burgundy wine consumers

As recent years have seen a growing interest in integrating consumer and sensory science, this paper aims at presenting a systematic literature review of empirical studies investigating the effects of intrinsic and extrinsic food product attributes on consumers’ food decision making. Both an electronic search through a digital library database and a forward–backward search identified relevant international research. The final set of studies (n = 602) was coded in terms of research methods, intrinsic and/or extrinsic product attributes, consumer response measurement, study location, sample size, study origin, and food type. Although the importance of some product attributes such as taste, label, and price are very well recognized, other variables such as appearance, smell, sound, texture, and packaging have been neglected in research so far. Findings also show an imbalance of applied methods in consumer and sensory research. Surveys/questionnaires and acceptance tests are well-represented, whereas other methods or combinations thereof were rarely or never applied. Food liking was found to be the most frequent way to obtain consumer food evaluation data. Mirroring an increasing importance of product attributes in consumer food decisions, marketing managers and product developers today are well advised to take simultaneous effects of extrinsic and product attributes into account. This article calls for future studies with more holistic study designs to avoid the risk of misleading conclusions in both consumer and sensory research.

Extrinsic and intrinsic food product attributes in consumer and sensory research: literature review and quantification of the findings

From sensory marketing to sensory design: How to drive formulation using consumers’ input?

Companies need to continuously innovate to maintain market leadership. When the market is overloaded the challenge consists in creating innovative products able to attract and satisfy consumers. The general aim of this research is to set-up an operational protocol that aids in creating innovative products using a sensory marketing approach, i.e. involving consumers at different stages of the process and demonstrates the validity of this protocol. The chosen product – a specific category of drink – has been duplicated by many competitors; therefore, it is necessary to create again differentiation by improving its sensory characteristics. First, a qualitative phase explored the concerned food universe and the possible sensory variations of the product across the five senses. Following this phase, a limited number of factors were selected for sample formulation: colour intensity (4 intensities), flavouring (3 types), label type (soft touch vs. hard) and pack size (standard vs. oversize). Next, a statistical experimental design was used to select a partial number of all combinations to be tested quantitatively. Finally, a quantitative phase allowed for evaluating the liking and concept fitting of 12 scenarios from the experimental design and data was analyzed with a conjoint approach. The results showed that the main factors which drive consumer preference for this concept are colour intensity and flavouring. Pack size and label type are taken into account by the consumer to a lesser extend. The ideal combination of the studied factors was also determined and lead to an agreement between product developers and marketers. This experiment showed the feasibility of the proposed multi-sensory design method based on mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches.

H. Nicod

Papers

From sensory marketing to sensory design: How to drive formulation using consumers’ input?

From sensory marketing to sensory design: how to drive formulation using consumers' input ?