Evaluating Consumer Acceptance Tests by Three-Way Internal Preference Mapping Obtained by Parallel Factor Analysis (Parafac)

Abstract

In this work, it is demonstrated that consumer acceptance analysis can be evaluated by simultaneously considering several attributes using a three-way internal preference map obtained by parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC). Considerations regarding the building of this three-way map by PARAFAC are reported. Pilot case studies with real data sets from herb cakes and beef burgers are also carried out, and comparisons with results from regular internal preference maps are obtained by principal component analysis. Three-way internal preference maps enable the simultaneous analysis of interactions among consumer preferences, products and different evaluated attributes, which facilitate the selection of favorite samples. This method highlights the efficiency of the three-way analysis of consumer acceptance data with different sources of data variability, allowing the extraction of relevant information and the graphic display of this information with improved interpretability. Three-way internal preference mapping is a useful tool for the analysis of consumer acceptance tests, which can provide a more evidence-based and general interpretation of data. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThree-way internal preference mapping is another useful tool for the analysis of consumer acceptance tests, allowing the extraction of more relevant information and the graphic display of this information with improved interpretability. This tool makes it possible to simultaneously analyze the interactions among consumer preferences, products and different evaluated attributes, which can facilitate the selection of favorite samples. Furthermore, it enables a comparison of the overall performance of the samples in consumer acceptance tests, simultaneously taking into account the influence of all analyzed attributes. This method is useful in new product development and product improvement studies in research institutions and industries.

Influence of different types of sugars in physalis jellies

“…The i × m portion was the same for each i × j portion of the individual matrices. PARAFAC procedures and the construction of a 3-way preference map and 3-way external preference map were previously reported in detail (Nunes et al, 2011).…”

“…For easy viewing of the jelly formulation sensory acceptance and to correlate with the physicochemical and rheological parameters, a 3-way external preference map obtained by PARAFAC (Nunes et al, 2011) was also elaborated. A 3-way array was arranged from matrices of i rows (i samples) and j + m columns (j consumers + m physicochemical measurements).…”

Optimization of tropical fruit juice based on sensory and nutritional characteristics

“…The PARAFAC model was optimized using the value of Core Consistency Diagnostics (CDRCDNDIA) to choose the number of factors (Bro, 1997;Nunes et al, 2011). PARAFAC procedures and the construction of a 3-way preference map and 3-way external preference map were previously reported in detail (Nunes et al, 2011(Nunes et al, , 2012a. For a first view of the nutritional characteristics correlation with the different juice formulations, the physicochemical and texture data were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA).…”

“…The i × m portion was the same for each i × j portion of the individual matrices (Nunes et al, 2012a). The PARAFAC model was optimized using the value of Core Consistency Diagnostics (CDRCDNDIA) to choose the number of factors (Bro, 1997;Nunes et al, 2011). PARAFAC procedures and the construction of a 3-way preference map and 3-way external preference map were previously reported in detail (Nunes et al, 2011(Nunes et al, , 2012a.…”

Development and chemical and sensory characterization of pumpkin seed flour-based cereal bars

“…In order to choose the best bars, sensory data were statistically analyzed by three-way Internal Preference Mapping (Nunes et al, 2011), which allows the evaluation of sample acceptability according to the panelist's hedonic scores, simultaneously considering the information on the acceptance of several attributes. The three-way preference mapping was obtained by the parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) (Bro, 1997) from a three-dimensional data set consisting of 5 bars ×100 panelists × 5 attributes.…”