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Diverse food choices and preferences are commonly observed between consumers cross-culturally, however, many aspects of these behavioral differences are not yet fully understood. In order to investigate cross-cultural texture preferences, six extruded snack samples, manufactured under different processing conditions to represent a range of textural characteristics were characterized by a trained panel using descriptive sensory analysis. In parallel, thirty-eight naive European-Origin and thirty-seven naive Chinese-Origin Australian consumers (t = 75) rated their preference for the snacks. The snacks were not representative of any snacks on the market and thus represented a "novel " product in both cultures. Additionally, consumers answered a simple questionnaire and completed the food neophobia scale. Results of descriptive analysis indicated significant differences (p 50.01) between the samples for 13 out of 15 descriptive attributes but no significant diflerences in preference were found between European-origin and Chinese-origin consumers. However, overall analysis of mean effects indicated that Chinese-origin consumers rated samples significantly higher than European-origin consumers (p I0.05), suggesting a cultural bias in the use of line scales. Gender did not influence texture preference, however, age significantly influenced preference for three of the samples (p I 0.05) and analysis of mean effects also indicated differences in consumers ' ratings which were related to age. Food neophobia class ijication did not influence preference, although many more Chinese-origin consumers (28) were classified as neophobic than were European-origin consumers (I I ) .' Corresponding author: TEL: +61-2 94908464; FAX: +61-2 94908499Journal of Sensory Studies 16 (2001) 485-504. All Rights Reserved. "