Is less always more?

John Castura/ June 5, 2019/ Oral Presentation, Symposium/ 0 comments

Here is a question to be answered in mythbusters style: “Do the number of available choices create a choice overload effect in consumers?” As a starting point, consider a well-known study in which consumers receive a coupon in a grocery store after tasting two jams. Consumers who were limited to choosing from only 6 jams followed through with purchase more

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Or is less just less?

John Castura/ June 5, 2019/ Oral Presentation, Symposium/ 0 comments

The authors of the meta-analysis suggest that the difficulties associated with making choices might be more related to the complexity of the choice task and the cognitive decision-making factors than simply to the number of choices. Other authors have suggested particular underlying factors. The claim of choice overload based strictly on the number of choices seems both capture and oversimplify

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Effect of carbonation level on the perception of sparkling wine

John Castura/ September 28, 2018/ Symposium/ 0 comments

The relationship between instrumental and sensory measurements were investigated in 11 wines varying in their carbonation level. Although sourness intensities of the wines were not significantly different, increased carbonation concentration affected the dynamics of sourness perception. Both the onset and extinction of the sourness perception were delayed with increased carbonation. Amongst potential explanations are that dynamic effects of carbonation draw

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Establishing the consumer relevance of a sensory difference using the same-different method

John Castura/ June 15, 2018/ Invited, Symposium/ 0 comments

Establishing the consumer relevance of a sensory difference is essential to reach a conclusion of ‘similarity’ or ‘difference’ between products. Rousseau and Ennis (2013) propose conducting a designed same-different study using a Thurstonian-derived model to obtain discriminal sensory distances (d’) and the consumer-based threshold tau.

Historical Developments in the ASTM Guide for Sensory Claim Substantiation

John Castura/ June 15, 2018/ Invited, Symposium/ 0 comments

The manner in which “no preference” responses have been treated in the E1958 Standard Guide for Sensory Claim Substantiation has evolved between 1998 and the current (2016) guide. For example, the 1998 guide proposes that an interviewer present consumers with a forced-choice preference question, and accept a “no preference” response from consumers who indicate that they do not have a

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