Smoked and barbecued meats have continued to gain popularity in recent years, however, no consensus exists on the best methods for preparation. Several smoker types and many varieties of wood are used for smoking meat in the restaurant industry and by amateur “pit‐masters.” In this research, pork was smoked with an outdoor offset smoker and an indoor electric smoker using four wood types: hickory, apple, oak, and mesquite. Descriptive and consumer acceptance tests were conducted to evaluate the different treatments and determine drivers of liking. Pork smoked with the offset smoker using hickory wood had the highest overall acceptance. Appearance characteristics, such as intensity of red color, were the top drivers of liking for the smoked pork product. Practical Application This research demonstrates the drivers of liking for smoked pork products commonly found in American barbecue, specifically Kansas City‐style barbecue. The results have application in both retail and restaurant environments and can be used to produce an optimized smoked pork product.

Using consumer‐friendly terminology is essential for more impactful consumer research. As an example, focus groups are effective to gather emotional and attitudinal information in ways that surveys and questionnaires cannot. The objective of this study was to use situational exercises in focus groups to generate terminology about emotions and attitudes in beauty care. These terms can be used to aid the product development process and product communication. Women in the Kansas City area (N = 21), who use a variety of different beauty care products, were recruited for three focus groups of seven people each. The groups were divided by age group as follows: 18–35, 36–50, and 51+. Participants were asked questions regarding their behaviors behind their purchasing habits and use of beauty care products, both positive and negative. Women reported that when not using beauty care products, they felt tired, dirty, and self‐conscious. Contrarily, they reported feeling confident, clean, and beautiful when using products. They also mentioned the importance of ingredients. Women overwhelmingly wanted products to have more natural ingredients and to be created “cruelty‐free” (no animal testing). These qualitative techniques help understand the consumer so companies can better communicate with their target users. Practical Applications This article provides an example on the use of focus groups as a tool to rapidly gather relevant information about emotions and behaviors in the beauty care category. This technique is a fast way to gather rich information that could benefit a research and development team from two fronts: first, to a sensory or product development group to understand the relations between product characteristics and the emotional construct of consumers and perhaps provide a key into changing consumer behaviors and second, to a brand or marketing team to understand what their target users are saying so they can think about better ways to reach the consumer and communicate with them, in this case, within the beauty care industry.

The objective of this study was to further develop an existing lexicon for use in describing the flavor characteristics of a wide variety of artisan goat cheeses made in diverse geographic locations throughout of the United States. Highly trained sensory panelists reviewed published lexicons for cheese before establishing a lexicon of 39 flavor attributes to represent sensory characteristics for 47 artisan goat cheeses manufactured in different parts of the United States. Twenty‐eight attributes were present in a majority of samples and were able to describe most flavor characteristics. Other attributes were used occasionally to describe specific characteristics of certain cheeses. A large number of attributes were needed to describe flavor characteristics of cheese samples with more complex flavors (i.e., mold‐ripened samples). Samples with milder characteristics (chèvre‐style) needed a reduced number of terms and had lower intensities for most attributes. Feta‐style cheeses generally were more salty and cheddar‐style cheeses were mostly nutty, waxy, and sweet. Mold‐ripened cheeses had musty‐like characteristics and were more pungent and sharp. These attributes had higher intensities specifically for blue‐type cheeses. The goaty flavor attribute was higher for mold‐ripened cheeses but was characteristic of all the goat cheeses. Practical applications This study gathers previously developed flavor terms and combines them with new terms to describe the flavor characteristics of a broad variety of artisan cheeses made with goat's milk produced in different parts of the United States. This work can be a valuable resource for goat cheese producers. Any producer can use this study as a tool for learning, benchmarking, development, and quality control of goat cheese as it shows the types of flavors typical in a wide variety of goat cheeses.

Various features of hotel toiletries can influence a consumer's decision to use them during their stay. Hotel toiletries have rarely been evaluated by exploring consumers' perception of the features themselves. Two surveys were conducted with frequent hotel guests in which they were asked to choose their most and least important hotel toiletry (i.e., shampoo or lotion) feature. The surveys were separated by the type of hotel toiletry they used most often during their hotel stay (i.e., shampoo or lotion). A list of attributes for hotel shampoos and lotions were used to determine the most and least important features. Key take-aways included that the "ideal" hotel lotion should be nongreasy, moisturizing, and lightly scented. Hotel shampoos should be moisturizing, should lather, and have a relaxing, spa-like scent. These findings provide important consumer perceptions of hotel toiletries, which can be used to create the "ideal" hotel shampoo and lotion. Practical applicationsThe published articles on hotel toiletries are limited. The research provides the foundation for further research to be conducted on the hotel toiletry category. From the research, features of hotel shampoos and lotions are determined to help the hotel industry gain a better understanding on the features of hotel toiletries they should provide to maximize hotel guest's satisfaction. The research determined that, there are a handful of attributes that are highly recommended to be present in a hotel shampoo or lotion.

The consumer demand for locally grown fresh produce is continuously increasing in the United States. The high tunnel systems have been successfully utilized by small acreage growers for local production. Consumers are typically assessing appearance, freshness, flavor and aroma when purchasing produce. A common perception is that locally grown produce tastes better than nonlocal. However, there is not much evidence for supporting this claim. The objective of this study was to identify consumer acceptability and the sensory characteristics/differences of locally grown spinach in open field or in high tunnel and nonlocal commercially grown spinach. Spinach, Spinacia oleracea cv. “Corvair” was grown in open field and in high tunnel at Kansas State Univ. Olathe Horticulture Research and Extension Center (OHREC) in spring 2017 and the commercially grown spinach was purchased at a local retail store. A consumer study (n = 205) was conducted at Kansas State Univ., Olathe campus, and a descriptive sensory analysis was conducted by a highly trained descriptive analysis panel in the Center for Sensory Analysis and Consumer Behavior at Kansas State Univ., Manhattan campus, in spring 2017. The consumer test showed that high tunnel spinach scored significantly higher in overall liking (P < 0.0001), flavor liking (P < 0.0001), and texture liking (P < 0.05) when compared to open field and store purchased spinach. Descriptive analysis showed that locally grown spinach had higher intensity of attributes that indicate premium quality, such as green color and green/spinach flavors. Our results indicate that locally grown spinach was preferred from the consumers for its high organoleptic quality. Practical Application Locally grown spinach demonstrated high intensity in a set of sensory attributes that suggest a product with premium organoleptic quality. Correspondingly to these results, consumers liked spinach produced locally in high tunnels the most. The results of this study can be used for developing marketing strategies that are aiming specifically to the consumer niche that is seeking fresh produce of high organoleptic quality.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to show how sensory science can be used as a valuable tool to help develop products with a higher chance of long-term market success by reducing uncertainty during the development process. Future trends are discussed. Design/methodology/approach The description and case study approach highlight how sensory scientists must be involved during development as a research partner to develop appropriate study objectives, comprehensive research plans, and conduct studies in collaboration with other groups. This approach shows ways to deliver deeper understanding of the product and category through appropriate study execution and development of actionable insights. Findings The present review demonstrates ways that sensory scientists, including those focused mainly on consumer evaluation, interact with other groups within the research and development organization. This paper is focused on providing information about sensory science to non-sensory scientists and developers. Examples are shown. Practical implications This paper presents a guide for applying sensory and consumer science in an industrial setting that can be used by both industry and educational institutions who train students. It refers to current literature, presents real case studies in an abbreviated form, and traces the use of sensory in ways that may not usually be covered in some guides and books that focus on the more traditional uses of sensory in areas such as quality control. Originality/value This paper fulfills an identified need for contributions of sensory scientists to the product success continuum and the influence of getting appropriate sensory data to support research, development, and marketing decisions. The use and reference to specific examples make an original contribution to the journal.

There are many ways to prepare potatoes that each provide a unique set of sensory properties. However, when conducting a descriptive sensory study, it is important to utilize a cooking method that will highlight, and not distract from, the sensory differences among potato samples due to factors such as variety or growing conditions. This study aimed to determine which of five cooking methods results in the best differentiation among potato varieties to recommend a single method for use in future descriptive sensory studies. Five different potato varieties were each prepared using boiling, mashing, baking, frying, and air frying methods. The samples were provided to six highly trained descriptive panelists and evaluated by consensus using a modified high identity traits (HITs) method. Panelists evaluated the aroma, flavor, and texture to develop a list of up to five total HITs per sample. Additionally, panelists scored each sample for degree of difference (DOD) from the control. Based on the HITs profiles and DOD scores, mashing, baking, and air frying methods were all effective in differentiating the samples. Frying and boiling methods introduced too much variation and are not recommended for sample differentiation. Ultimately, the method chosen for future research would depend on the study objectives.

Potatoes have been a commodity of interest for some time due to nutritional and sensory reasons. Appearance, aroma, flavor and texture quality traits are gaining importance in breeding and processing programs, creating the need to develop a standard lexicon to provide common terminology to improve communication between breeders, producers, marketers, and researchers. A highly trained descriptive panel identified, defined, and referenced a lexicon with 64 attributes using a consensus based descriptive analysis method with 55 cultivars of potatoes. Samples were served mashed and air fried. Full lexicon includes 5 appearance, 17 aroma, 21 flavor, 13 texture, 5 mouthfeel, and 3 aftertaste attributes. The 55 cultivars used for lexicon development were also successfully profiled for the developed attributes. Cooked, potato, cardboard, umami, starchy, salty, metallic, bitter, and astringent attributes were mostly common among all samples. Attributes such as vegetable complex, beany, nutty, toasted, sweet potato, eggy, and cauliflower were unique to certain cultivars.Practical applicationsDevelopment of a technical vocabulary will help the potato industry and research establishments to improve communication among stakeholders, irrespective of cross‐cultural differences. It is anticipated that this work will help fill knowledge gaps in potato research from sensory and consumer point of view.