How do static and dynamic sensory product characterizations based on check-all-that-apply questions? Insights from three consumer studies
Temporal check-all-that-apply (TCATA) is basically an extension of CATA questions and measures the dynamics of sensory perception. Despite the similarities between both methodologies, no study has yet compared static and dynamic sensory product characterizations obtained with CATA and TCATA with consumers, respectively. In this context, the aim of the present work was to compare static and dynamic sensory product characterizations based on check-all-that-apply (CATA) questions with consumers. Three studies involving a total of 310 consumers were carried out. In each study, a between-subjects experimental design was used to compare static and dynamic sensory characterizations obtained using CATA questions and temporal CATA (TCATA), respectively. Three different product categories were evaluated (orange juice, strawberry yogurt and vanilla milk desserts) using lists of 6-11 sensory terms. TCATA data were analysed as CATA considering fixed time periods throughout the evaluation. CATA and TCATA were compared in terms of frequency of use of the terms, sample discrimination, and sample and term configurations. Asking consumers to continuously select the attributes that applied to describe a product and to deselect those that no longer apply during the evaluation period does not largely modify the average citation proportion of terms or the maximum citation proportion for individual terms. Although both methodologies provided similar information, TCATA provided additional insights on how similarities and differences among samples evolved during consumption in the case of products that experience large temporal changes or attributes with strong time-dependency. CATA provided similar information for sensory attributes that did not change substantially during consumption. Results from the present work suggest that the joint application of static and dynamic product sensory characterizations using CATA questions with consumers may provide a more comprehensive overview of consumer experiences with food products.
Alcaire, F., Antúnez, L., Vidal, L., Zorn, S., Giménez, A., Castura, J. C., & Ares, G. (2017) How do static and dynamic sensory product characterizations based on check-all-that-apply questions? Insights from three consumer studies. 12th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium. 20-24 August. Providence, RI, USA.