Influence of testing environment on consumer liking of doenjang stew

Abstract

Central location test (CLT) is a more widely employed method for testing consumer acceptance in comparison to home usage test (HUT). In this study, the influence of the testing environment on the consumer liking of doenjang stew was determined.Consumer acceptance testing of doenjang stew was conducted four times, with one CLT and three HUTs. For HUTs, samples were served in different containers: 50 ml of premade doenjang stew in a plastic 95-ml disposable cup, representing CLT conducted at home; 200 ml (one serving size) of premade doenjang stew in a 500-ml plastic disposable bowl, representing restaurant "take out," corresponded to the CLT condition performed at home; and doenjang stew meal kit including doenjang paste, vegetables, broth, and cooking recipe, representing meal-kit consumption scenario.Differences in product liking were observed according to the testing environment (p < .05). In case of appearance-related attributes (no tasting involved), consumers rated higher liking scores to doenjang stew evaluated under a meal-kit HUT situation (p < .05). When tasting was involved, consumers rated higher scores to stew samples under the CLT condition (p < .05). The salinity of doenjang stew was the same under all of the product testing environments, while the salty taste liking was rated the highest under the CLT situation (p < .05). Results of this study suggested that the testing environment affects the consumer acceptance testing results. Practical ApplicationsThis study reported that differences in liking attributes under different testing environments, in that the highest overall liking score was rated under CLT condition, while HUT presented as "meal-kit" received highest appearance-related liking scores.Based on the results, this study suggests the consumer acceptance testing of doenjang stew using the CLT rather than the HUT considering the time and economics.This study provided an appropriate method to test the consumer liking of doenjang stew-type food products, which can be utilized in future consumer-related research.

The effect of visual deprivation on basic taste modalities

“…The Valicente's study demonstrated that sugar (saccharose) content reduction in a cola-flavored drink to 11.25% or 11.07% from the original 12% was not reliably identified by participants (sugar reduction by 7.5 and 9.3 g/L, respectively). Moreover, the plausibility of sugar content re-evaluation in foods consumed in dim/dark surroundings is also supported by reports which show that perceived food sweetness and sweet taste sensitivity can be altered by manipulating the appearance of food per se, or the environment in which food is served without changing its sugar content (e.g., Maga, 1974;Motoki & Velasco, 2021;Piqueras-Fiszman et al, 2012;van Doorn et al, 2014;Hwang & Kim, 2022).…”

Effects of sensory test conditions and cooking methods on consumer acceptance, sensory profiling, and emotional response of home meal replacement foods

“…Another study comparing the sensory profiling of cold cuts using the Rate-All-That-Apply (RATA) method found negligible differences between CLT and HUT conditions (Niimi et al, 2022). Moreover, CLT and HUT were compared using a food item, that is, the Korean traditional soybean paste soup, which requires a significant burden in preparation and cooking, resulting in higher liking scores in the CLT condition than in the HUT condition (Hwang & Kim, 2022).…”