Consumers are diverse in their product perceptions. But within the consumer population there are often consumer segments whose product perceptions are relatively homogeneous. To discover these consumer segments, consumers’ product-related responses are submitted to a cluster analysis. The particular cluster analysis is chosen by the researcher. But the choice of clustering algorithm can have profound consequences on the clustering solution
This study investigated sweet–sour taste interactions in novel sweeteners using a 3 × 2 factorial design consisting of Sweetening System (three levels: sucrose; d-allulose; and a blend of d-allulose and Monk fruit extract) and Acidity (two levels: with or without citric acid). 110 untrained Chinese subjects participated using the temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) method. Mixed-model ANOVA was conducted to investigate the effect of
Brewer’s spent grain (BSG), a by-product of the brewing industry, has great potential as a valuable food additive. BSG is particularly rich in protein and fibre content which makes it an ideal nutritional fortifier for biscuits. However, adding BSG in biscuits can lead changes in sensory perception and consumer acceptance. This study explores the temporal sensory profiles and drivers/inhibitors of
We developed and tested a strategy to improve data quality in consumer tests by dropping consumers based on their screener responses. A key question was whether test outcomes were improved enough to justify the extra effort of having this screening step. To do this investigation, we made an online test in which respondents answered a short screener followed by a
We propose a new temporal sensory method called temporal ranking (TR) in which assessors indicate and rank the three most noticeable sensations at every time point. The TR method was compared to temporal-check-all-that-apply (TCATA) in two trained-panel studies, one study involving six ready-to-mix (RTM) protein beverages and one study involving seven ready-to-drink (RTD) protein beverages. In each study, the same
Consumers can be clustered based on their product-related check-all-that-apply (CATA) responses. We identify two paradoxes that can occur if these clusters are derived from conventional similarity coefficients. The first paradox is that clustering similar consumers can nullify within-cluster sensory differentiation of products. The second paradox is that consumers who check many attributes yet disagree can be clustered together, whereas consumers
Temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) data can be summarized and explored using principal component analysis (PCA). Here we analyze TCATA data on Syrah wines obtained from a trained sensory panel. We evaluate new and existing methods to explore the uncertainty in the PCA scores. To do so, we use the bootstrap procedure to obtain many virtual panels from the real panel’s data.
Two updated R packages are available: Castura, J.C. (2022). cata: Analysis of Check-All-that-Apply (CATA) Data. R package version 0.0.10.7. http://www.cran.r-project.org/package=cata/ Castura, J.C. (2022). tempR: Temporal Sensory Data Analysis. R package version 0.9.9.20. http://www.cran.r-project.org/package=tempR/
Castura, J.C. (2021). Consumer hedonic studies with incomplete block designs. In: Workshop: A journey of consumer segmentation. History and a discussion of current “preference” segmentation approaches based on incomplete and complete test designs (Zach, J., Rothman, L., Carr, B.T., Thomas, H., Castura, J.C.). 14th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, 9-12 August. Online. (Workshop Oral). DOWNLOAD
This study introduces temporal rate-all-that-apply (TRATA) as a new temporal sensory method. It was inspired by rate-all-that-apply (RATA) and temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA), but is most similar to multiple-attribute time intensity (MATI) in that the TRATA method allows for simultaneous rating of attribute intensities over time. Only attributes that are perceived are scaled. In this case study, the TRATA method was