Predicting and Understanding Long‐Term Consumer Liking of Standard Versus Novel Chocolate: A Repeated Exposure Study

Abstract

Repeated exposure was investigated for predicting long-term liking of five chocolates products; three novel products, added cinnamon/cardamom, commercial beet flavor or a homemade beet-flavor and two existing products: 70% chocolate and chocolate added liquorice. Ninety-five Danish consumers were exposed daily to one of the five chocolate types during a two-week period, interrupted twice with exposure to odd samples (day 3 and 10). Liking, arousal and complexity were rated. Arousal and perceived complexity ratings for the chocolates with added Liquorice and cinnamon/cardamom dropped significantly during the exposures, but in both cases was followed by an increase towards the end of the study resulting in the recording of no significant difference between pre and post test. None of the groups showed any significant changes in pre-post exposure liking. Ratings of arousal and complexity did not provide further understanding of the mechanisms affecting long-term liking. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSThe high failure rate of newly developed food products is continuingly a huge issue in the food industry. Product launches failing to meet long-term consumer liking, can often imply major losses related to development, production, distribution and marketing. The present study investigated the relevance of a repeated exposure test design, when predicting long-term liking of five chocolate products. Perceived complexity and arousal were also measured, aiming at providing further insight into the recorded liking. No pre-post exposure changes were found for liking, perceived arousal and complexity, thus a repeated exposure test design was not found relevant to predict long-term liking of chocolates. The stable liking responses observed in the present study is suggested to be related to the rewarding properties of the chocolate. The extra costs, associated with a repeated exposure test, may however still be feasible, when predicting long-term liking of other food products with the potential risk of failure.

Comparison of Home Use Tests with Differing Time and Order Controls

“…Although spread wafer was also an unfamiliar product (Table 7), its liking score was relatively high, which could have been affected by brand awareness [34,35] and familiarity with the spread used for filling in the spread wafer. Soerensen et al [36] indicated there was no dynamic liking when novel flavors were added because of a high perceived familiarity with chocolates. In addition, well-known samples were evaluated first, whereas unfamiliar samples were evaluated later in the 'No control' group (Tables 7 and 8).…”

Perceived Sensory Characteristics of Wood by Consumers and Trained Evaluators

“…The subjective qualities involve moral, cultural and sensory factors, among others. Consumer liking is a “complex interlinked relationship of underlying factors” and involves many different scientific fields such as psychology, physiology, sociology, chemistry and economics (Soerensen et al ).…”

Multi-component food-items and eating behaviour: What do we know and what do we need to know?

“…This proposition remains to be confirmed, with many existing studies focusing on complexity within food and drinks in terms of subtle 'multiple sensations.' For example, wine with a flavour profile including many different 'notes' (Spence & Wang, 2018), or dark solid chocolate bars altered with different flavourings including beet, cinnamon, cardamon and liquorice (Soerensen et al, 2015), may be described as having high perceived flavour complexity but do not constitute a multi-component food when considering a definition that prescribes a need to have discernible components that differ in composition.…”

“…Several studies have explored the effect of sensory complexity on hedonic responses to foods. Whilst some have shown no effect of complexity on hedonic response with only a subtle manipulation of flavour (e.g., salty crackers with different added flavourings) (Porcherot & Issanchou, 1998;Soerensen, Waehrens, & Byrne, 2015), others have found a limited effect on liking with a more extreme manipulation (e.g., mashed potatoes with pieces of celery and nutmeg added) (Reverdy, Schlich, Köster, Ginon, & Lange, 2010;Weijzen, Zandstra, Alfieri, & de Graaf, 2008). Notably, Weijzen et al (2008) included test foods that would be considered 'multi-component' (e.g., candy bar with chocolate and nuts).…”