Consumers' Creaminess Concept Perception: A Cross‐cultural Study in Three Spanish‐speaking Countries

Abstract

Creaminess is a complex sensory attribute that is critical for consumer liking in a wide range of products. For this reason, it is crucial to understand consumers' expectations when trying a creamy product. The aim of the present work was to study consumers' creaminess perception in three different Spanish-speaking countries. Between 107 and 120 consumers were recruited from Argentina, Spain and Uruguay. Participants were asked to provide a definition of creaminess and to list all the creamy products they knew and all the sensations they perceived when consuming a creamy product. Results from the present work suggest that consumers' perception of creaminess seems to be mainly related to tactile and kinesthetic sensations such as smoothness, viscosity, melting and softness. Differences were found between the outcomes from consumers in the three countries, which indicate that even within the same language, cultural differences exist in consumers' understanding of the term "creaminess." PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSResults from the present work could contribute to a greater knowledge of consumers' creaminess perception and particularly about the textural attributes and sensations that consumers expect to find when they try creamy products. Understanding what consumers expect from a creamy product and what expectations are raised when thinking of creaminess, could assure that consumers' expectations are fulfilled, increasing the success of new products, including salty food items as soups or vegetable purees. Moreover, results could also be useful when selecting key instrumental or sensory measurements to predict consumers' perceived creaminess. ISSN 0022-4901 Journal of Texture Studies

Effect of vegetal-oil emulsion and passion fruit peel-powder on sensory acceptance of functional yogurt

“…However, it was possible to note that several other terms were used by the consumers to express the attribute texture as "cremosity" and "firmness" confirming previous studies, that reported the existence of such assorted words to express this attribute (Antmann et al, 2012;Antmann et al, 2011a, b). Furthermore, consumers' attitude towards sensory evaluation depends on their memory structure, which is definitely related to their personal characteristic (Varela et al, 2013).…”

Exploring and Explaining Creaminess Perception: Consumers' Underlying Concepts

“…In order to obtain a clearer vision of consumers' creaminess perception and particularly of the results of the present work, it is interesting to compare the results with those reported by Antmann et al (2010). In that study, Spanish and Uruguayan consumers were asked to define creaminess using their own words.…”

How Does the Science of Physical and Sensory Properties Contribute to Gastronomy and Culinary Art?

“…Projection techniques have been used with participants from Spain, Argentina, and Uruguay. Using word association tasks, the consumers were asked to write down the first four words, descriptions, associations, thoughts, or feelings that came to mind when thinking of creaminess (Antmann et al, 2011b). The consumers mainly associated creaminess with creamy food products and with texture, flavor, and appearance attributes such as smoothness, softness, sweetness, and pleasantness.…”