Sensory product characterisations based on check-all-that-apply questions: Further insights on how the static (CATA) and dynamic (TCATA) approaches perform.

Check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions have become one of the most popular methods for sensory characterisation with consumers. Temporal CATA (TCATA) is an extension of the former that takes into account the dynamic nature of sensory perception. The aim of the present work was to expand the methodological comparison of CATA and TCATA questions, considering the characterisation of solid products that undergo substantial oral processing when consumed. Five studies involving a total of 731 consumers were conducted with different product categories: dried apricots, peas, cheese, bread and milk chocolate. A between-subjects experimental design was used to compare the static and dynamic versions of CATA questions. For comparison purposes, TCATA data were analysed as CATA by collapsing the data into four fixed time intervals (quarters). The four quarters of TCATA were compared to results from CATA considering the frequency of use of the terms, sample discrimination, and product configurations. The temporal aspect of TCATA did not largely modify the average citation proportion of terms or the maximum citation proportion for individual terms. Significant differences among samples were established for most of the terms in both CATA and TCATA evaluations, albeit some subtle differences between the two methods were found. These differences were dependent on the product category and the specific sensory characteristics that were relevant for describing the focal samples. The largest differences were found for Study 5 (milk chocolate), for which TCATA identified a few additional insights on the evolution of similarities and differences among samples. However, in most cases general findings were virtually identical for both methodological approaches. In light of these results, the extra effort of using a dynamic sensory characterisation method compared to a static one, may, in many instances, not be warranted.

A Chemometrics Approach Comparing Volatile Changes during the Shelf Life of Apple Juice Processed by Pulsed Electric Fields, High Pressure and Thermal Pasteurization.

High-Pressure Processing (HPP) and Pulsed Electric Fields (PEF) processing technologies are being used increasingly on a commercial basis, with high-quality labelled fruit juices being one of the most important promotion strategies. Quality-related enzymes, which might still be active after HPP and PEF pasteurization, can cause undesirable aroma changes during storage. This study investigated volatile changes during the shelf life of PEF (15.5 kV/cm and specific energy of 158 kJ/L), HPP (600 MPa for 3 min), and thermally (72 °C for 15 s) pasteurized Jazz apple juices-up to five weeks. To have an increased insight into the volatile changes, an integrated instrumental (GC-MS) and data analysis (chemometrics) approach was implemented. Immediately after pasteurization, PEF processing resulted a better retention of odor-active volatiles, such as (E)-2-hexenal and hexyl acetate, whereas thermal processing lowered their amount. During refrigerated storage, these volatiles have gradually decreased in all processed juices. By the end of storage, the amount of these aroma relevant volatiles appears to still be higher in PEF and HPP pasteurized juices compared to their conventional counterparts. This study demonstrated the potential of advanced chemometric approaches to obtain increased insight into complex shelf life changes.

Product involvement and consumer food-elicited emotional associations: Insights from emoji questionnaires.

Individual differences in food-related consumer behaviour are well documented, but lack thorough exploration in relation to product-elicited emotional associations. In this research, focus is directed to product involvement as a factor that modulates emotional associations to tasted products (dried fruit, n = 4) and written descriptions of consumption situations (drinking red wine, cooking dinner using seafood). Emoji questionnaires were used (as check-all-that-apply questions: CATA), and across two studies with consumers in New Zealand (n = 352) and China (n = 450), higher levels of involvement were associated with more positive emotional associations. For example, consumers with higher involvement for dried fruit used emoji with positive meanings (e.g., face savouring delicious food (), smiling face with heart-shaped eyes () and smiling face with smiling eyes () more frequently than those with lower levels of involvement. Conversely, emoji with negative or neutral meanings (e.g., confused face (), confounded face (), neutral face ()), were more frequently used by consumers with lower levels of product involvement. The number of significant differences between the samples of dried fruit were lower in the less involved consumer segment, and these consumers, on average, used less emoji to characterise the samples. A similar pattern of results were established for the written stimuli, which were used with Chinese consumers. For example, in the segment with greater involvement with seafood, associations to emoji with positive meanings were higher when responding to the situation "cooking dinner using frozen seafood as one of the ingredients." In the case of "drinking French red wine," the strategy used to define segments (median vs. triadic split of summed involvement scores) additionally influenced the results, and bigger differences were established when comparing more discrete segments (two extreme groups following triadic split).

The role of personal values in Chinese consumers' food consumption decisions. A case study of healthy drinks.

Differences in culture, language, and behavior between Chinese and Western consumers make entering the Chinese market a challenge. Chinese consumers may desire similar product features (e.g. brand name, quality, and flavor) to Western consumers but the value that consumers attach to the same product may differ cross-nationally. Besides values, an understanding of desired product attributes and the consequences linking to these values is also important. To the authors' knowledge, there is no published scientific research that investigates how personal values influence Chinese consumers' food consumption decisions. The aim of this research was to identify the links among product attributes, consequences of these attributes, and personal values associated with healthy drink consumption decisions within the Chinese market. Specifically, this research employed means-end chain theory and used association pattern technique (APT) as the main data collection technique to identify these links. Focus groups (n=6) were held in Hangzhou, China to identify the important attributes and consequences involved in the consumption decisions of healthy drinks. These attributes and consequences along with Schwartz's 10 basic values were used to construct the matrices included in the APT survey. A total of 600 APT surveys were administered in six different companies in Hangzhou, with 570 returned. Construction of the hierarchical value map (HVM) identified four of Schwartz's personal values influencing Chinese consumers' healthy drink consumption decisions: security, hedonism, benevolence, and self-direction. Food safety was the foremost concern for Chinese consumers when choosing healthy drinks. Chinese consumers also sought a good tasting and nutritious drink that was good value for money. Results from this study provide food marketers with an in-depth understanding of Chinese consumers' healthy drink consumption decisions. Implications and recommendations are provided that will assist food marketers to effectively enact marketing strategies in China.