CONSUMER TESTING

1
CONSUMER TESTING

• KEY TO THE SUCCESS OF ANY FOOD PRODUCT IS
  CONSUMER REACTION BASED ON
• -SENSORY ACCEPTANCE
• -PACKAGE ACCEPTANCE
• -PRICE ACCEPTANCE
• -WILLINGNESS TO PURCHASE AND
• RE-PURCHASE

2
SENSORY EVALUATION

• DIFFICULT TO MEASURE BECAUSE OF PERSON TO PERSON
  VARIABILITY
• SENSORY TESTING MUST BE RIGOROUS
• SENSORY TESTING MAY BE DONE WITH PROPER
  EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN
• PROPER STATISTICAL METHODS MUST BE USED FOR
  EVALUATION OF RESULTS

3
PITFALLS IN SENSORY TESTING

• VARIABILITY IN THRESHOLD DETECTION OF INDIVIDUALS
• VARIABILITY IN DAY TO DAY PERCEPTION FOR A GIVEN
  PERSON
• INADEQUATE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS
• CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

4
PRODUCT CHARACTERISTICS

• PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS
• IMAGE CHARACTERISTICS
• COMBINAITON OR INTERACTIONS BETWEEN PHYSICAL AND
  IMAGE

5
APPROACHES FOR SENSORY TESTING

• OBJECTIVE TESTING - TO CHARACTERIZE THE
  ATTRIBUTES OF A PRODUCT USED PRIMARILY DURING
  THE RD PHASE OF DEVELOPMENT TO FINE TUNE THE
  PRODUCT
• SUBJECTIVE TESTING - OFTEN PREFERENCE OR
  ACCEPTANCE TESTING BASED ON THE FACT THE THE
  CONSUMER IS THE PERSON
• MAKING THE FINAL DECISION

6
OBJECTIVE SENSORY TESTING

• DETERMINE IF A DIFFERENCE EXISTS BETWEEN PRODUCTS
• IDENTIFICATION OF SENSORY ATTRIBUTES AND
  ASSESSMENT OF A VALUE FOR EACH
• RANKING OF DIFFERENT PRODUCTS
• GENERALLY USES TRAINED PANELS

7
PANEL TRAINING

• CARE MUST BE TAKEN IN SELECTION AND TRAINING OF
  PANELIST -TAKES A LOT OF TIME
• AGREEMENT MUST BE REACH ON A COMMON VOCABULARY OF
  ATTRIBUTES
• PANELIST MUST BE ABLE TO RECOGNIZE AND QUANTIFY
  DIFFERENT ATTRIBUTES
• MULTIVARIENT ANALYSIS FREQUENTLY USED IN PANEL
  SELECTION AND TRAINING
• REQUIRES A LARGE POOL OF PANELISTS

8
SUBJECTIVE SENSORY TESTING

• GENERALLY BASED ON PREFERENCE - MAY INCLUDE
  EVALUATION OF MOST ACCEPTABLE, TASTES BEST,
  LOOKS BEST, WOULD BUY
• THREE TYPES OF SUBJECTIVE TESTS INCLUDE
• -FOCUS GROUPS
• -CENTRAL LOCATION TEST
• -IN HOME TEST

9
FOCUS GROUPS

• 8-12 PARTICIPANTS - WITH A PROFESSIONAL LEADER
• SELECT MEMBERS CAREFULLY
• CAN BE EASILY REPEATED
• GOOD CONTROL OVER PRODUCT
• GIVES QUICK RESULTS
• PROVIDES ONLY QUALITATIVE DATA
• DATA NONPROJECTABLE

10
CENTRAL LOCATION TEST

• INVOLVES LARGE GROUPS --SOCIAL CLUBS, CHURCH
  GROUPS
• POOR SELECTIVITY OF PANELISTS
• REQUIRES WELL PREPARED QUESTIONNAIRE
• GOOD PRODUCT CONTROL
• QUICK RESULTS
• GIVE QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVE RESULT
• DATA PROJECTABLE WITH CAUTION

11
IN-HOME TESTING

• GENERALLY INVOLVES SEVERAL HUNDRED PARTICIPANTS
• HIGH COST
• LOST OF CONTROL OVER PRODUCT
• USUALLY A ONE TIME TEST
• REQUIRES INTENSIVE FOLLOW-UP AND GOOD
  QUESTIONNAIRE
• SLOW RESULTS
• QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DATA OBTAINED
  PROJECT RESULTS WITH CAUTION

12
IN HOME TESTING -CONT.

• A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT SELECTION PROCEDURES ARE
  AVAILABLE -- AND THE NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS TO
  GIVE STATISTICAL SIGNIFICANCE VARIES WITH THE
  PROCEDURE USED
• DEMOGRAPHICS AND GEOGRAPHICS IMPORTANT

13
CONSIDERATION

• OBJECTIVES MUST BE ESTABLISHED BEFORE DETERMINING
  TESTING METHOD TO BE USED
• IS OBJECTIVE TO DETERMINE WHICH FORMULATION OR
  PROCESS IS BEST?
• IS OBJECTIVE TO DETERMINE IF PRODUCT IS BETTER
  THAN COMPETITORS?
• IS MARKETING WANTING TO KNOW HOW IT WILL GO IN
  THE MARKET PLACE
• SHOULD THE PRODUCT BE BRANDED OR UNBRANDED?

14
CONSIDERATIONS

• SHOULD BLIND TESTING BE USED?
• SHOULD METHOD OF USED BE EVALUATED?
• SHOULD COMPETITORS PRODUCT BE COMPARED?
• ARE PANELISTS REPRESENTATIVE OF PROBABLY BUYER?
• SHOULD THE TEST BE TURNED OVER TO A CONSULTING
  FIRM?
• IS THE TARGET PRIMARILY CHILDREN?
• SHOULD A HEDONIC SCALE BE USED?
• SHOULD ETHNICITY BE CONSIDERED?

15
DETERMINATION OF N

• S.D. u(1-u)/n
• where u population expressed as a decimal n
  sample size
• and n (u(1-u)/S.D.

16
TAKE-AWAYS

• THE SENSORY METHOD(S) USED NEED TO REFLECT THE
  OBJECTIVES FOR THE TESTING
• OBJECTIVE AND SUBJECTIVE TESTS CAN NOT BE USED
  INTERCHANGEABLY
• GOOD STATISTICAL DESIGN AND EVALUATION MUST BE
  USED - ESPECIALLY FOR SUBJECTIVE TESTING