The Use of Taste Response Tests in Market Research

Author(s): Gideon Hadary

Source: Journal of Marketing, Vol. 10, No. 2 (Oct., 1945), pp. 152-155
Published by: American Marketing Association
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/1246325
Accessed: 23-02-2016 19:10 UTC

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 THE USE OF TASTERESPONSETESTSIN
MARKET RESEARCH
GIDEON HADARY
EDITOR'S NOTE: The author, now in the Army, was score is used in establishingthe value of
formerly .gricultural Economist, Office of Distribution,
War Food Administration.
a commodity (i.e., butter) even though
the consumer need not necessarily be
ELIABLE information concerning con- able to distinguishbetweenthe different
sumer preferences and acceptance is grades, and there is no relationshipbe-
prerequisite for the success of most food tween the "value" (objective or nutri-
merchandising programs. Such informa- tive) and the scoreof the commodity.2
tion is usually obtained from taste re- Initial taste responseor flash tests are
sponse tests. Various techniques may be the most commonly used technique in
used in such tests. Principally these con- ascertainingconsumer preferencesand
sist of (I) judging by trained experts; acceptance.Samplesof severalitems are
(2) initial taste tests indicating the sub- usuallypresentedto a largegroupof con-
jective response of a large number of sumers who are asked to indicate the
consumers; and (3) observations of productwhich they prefer.
actual takings of a sample of consumers Admittedly, prolonged consumption
over an extended period of time. tests are the most reliable techniqueof
In spite of the importance of consumer determiningconsumerfood preferences.
taste preference tests, reports on the However, this procedure is the more
comparative merits of these research costly and difficultone; hence the least
techniques are conspicuous by their commonlyused.
absence in marketing literature. For It is the purposeof this paperto exam-
example, in the period between I936 and ine the findingsof initial taste tests in the
I944, nothing pertaining to the subject light of their comparabilitywith pro-
was published in THE JOURNAL OF longed consumption patterns, and to
MARKETING.1 present some of the problemsrelated to
Product judging by experts is not a the use of taste responsetests in market
market research technique. It is com- research.
monly the first step in product develop- CHOCOLATE MILK BUTTERFAT CONTENT
ment. Such judging is based on arbi-
TESTS
trarily defined organoleptic concepts of
a "perfect" product. The food tested is Several tests were conducted by the
compared by specially trained technolo- author at the Universityof Wisconsinto
gists with the "perfect" and scored ac- ascertain consumers' butterfat prefer-
cordingly. In many instances such a ences in chocolate milk drinks.3These
tests consistedof both initial taste tests
1 Several reports summarizing taste tests were pub-
and prolongedconsumption tests. The
lished, but these did not discuss the matter of tech-
niques as such. Cf. R. Franzen and D. Teilheit, "A 2 In fact it requires intensive training and prolonged
Method for Measuring Product Acceptance," 7ournal experience to become an expert qualified to designate
of Marketing, Vol. 5, No. 2, October I940, pp. I56-i6I, the grades of many foods.
and M. Sellers, "Pre-testing of Products by Con- 3 Gideon
Hadary and Asher Hobson, "Consumers
sumers," 7ournal of Marketing, Vol. 6, No. 4, April Want Butterfat in Chocolate Milk," What's New in
1942, pp. 76-80. Farm Science, December 1943, pp. 34-35.
152

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 THE JOURNA,LOF MARKETING 153

procedureused and the findingsare out- same basic meals but have a choice of
lined in the following. drinks.
Initial Taste Tests. Two samples of Two kindsof chocolatemilk,one made
chocolate milk were given to 841 con- from whole milk, having 3.5 per cent
sumersin Madison,Wisconsin,in the fall butterfat and one made from defatted
of I942.4The cups containingthe sam- milk, having I.5 per cent butterfat,were
ples were marked conspicuously with placed at the end of the servicecounter,
either a square (1) or a circle (o). The in half-pint glasses stacked on trays
consumerswere asked to taste the two markedwith a square (D) or circle (0).5
samples and record their preferences, The order in which the two chocolate
without knowing in what respect the milks were placed was rotated several
samples differed. times duringthe week. These dinersdid
One of the samples was made with not know in which way the samplesdif-
partially defatted milk, having I to 2 feredexcept for the designatingsymbols.
per cent butterfat, and the other with The sampleswere served for a period
whole milk, having 3.5 per cent butter- of four consecutiveweeks. In this period
fat. All other factors (such as color, in- the combinedaverageper capita choco-
tensity of flavoring,viscosity and sweet- late milk consumptionat the noon meal
ness) were controlled.These tests were was 1.42 glasses. This consisted of .85
conducted with large groups of college glass, or 60 per cent, of chocolate milk
students duringthe lunch meal or at the made from whole milk, and .57 glass, or
end of a social meeting. 40 per cent, of chocolate milk made from
It was found that 500, or 59 per cent, defatted milk. Statistical tests indicated
of the respondentspreferredthe whole that a point of stability in the relative
milk product; 284, or 34 per cent, the takings of the two drinks was reached at
partially defatted product;and 57, or 7 the end of the second week.
per cent, indicatedno preference. Comparison of the Two Techniques.
Analyses were made by sex and age Fifty-nine per cent of the interviewees
groups,showing that the
essentially same preferred the whole milk product in the
relative preferencesfor the two drinks initial taste test. On the average, 60 per
existed in the differentgroups. cent of the chocolate milk consumed dur-
Prolonged Consumption Tests. Un- ing the prolonged consumption test was
limitedquantitiesof chocolatemilk were made of whole milk.6 These data show a
given to approximately450 male stu-
dentswith theirnoonmealin a university 5 It is claimed that, all other things being the same,
the geometric form used to designate samples has an
dormitorycafeteria.The studentseating effect on consumer choices. This is said to be particu-
in this dormitory do not pay for each larly pronounced as between common and uncommon
meal separately,paymentbeingmade in forms, i.e., circle vs. hexagon. Since both the square
advanceof the school term. Chargesfor and circle are common geometric figures it is believed
that the symbols used in this test did not introduce a
the meals do not vary with the quantity bias in the preferences.
of food taken, and all diners obtain the 6 The data in the initial taste tests are given as three-
way preferences (i.e., whole, deffated, neither). Where-
as in the prolonged test a two-way comparison is made.
4 A total of
2,07I people were interviewed in the If allowances were made for the 57 samplers in the initial
initial taste tests. Of these, 1,230 sampled defatted taste test who did not express a definite choice, then
products having less than one or more than two per over 63 per cent would be found to prefer the whole
cent fat. This report is confined to the 84I students who milk product. The samplers in the prolonged consump-
tested the I-2 per cent butterfat product vs. the whole tion test probably consumed an equal quantity of the
milk product. two milks.

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154 154
high degreeof agreementin the findings
of the two techniques.
This high degree of agreementis at-
tributed,in the main, to the fact that in
both the initial taste test and in the pro-
longedconsumptiontest the interviewees
were selected from the same "parent"
universe.The need for extreme caution
in the selectionof samplesis paramount
in order to assure comparabilityin the
findingsof the two techniques.
The commercial application of the
findingsof the butterfatcontent tests as
reported in this paper is somewhat
limited.It is recognizedthat the reaction
obtained in tests conducted in institu-
tions arenot comparablewith those con-
ductedin households.However,fromthe
point of view of techniques,the elimina-
tion of all other factors,includingprice,7
and the controlled selection of inter-
viewees, are necessaryfor a comparison
of the findingsof the two approaches.
From this point of view the procedures
used are believed to have considerable
merit.
Although a point of stability was ob-
served in the prolonged consumption
phase of the butterfat content test, it is
possible that further exposure of the
students to the drinks would have re-
sulted in differentfindings.
CONSUMER PREFERENCES FOR CHEESE8
An intensive study was conducted by
Asher Hobson and M. A. Schaars to
7 Price is a very important factor affecting consumer
acceptance. Several observations suggest that insofar
as foods are concerned, "price" might determine the
"value" consumers attach to products in contrast to the
classical economic concept of "price" being a function of
"value." An initial taste response test comparing three
identical samples of wine which were designated as cost-
ing %2.00, $4.oo and $6.oo per gallon, respectively,
indicated an overwhelming preference for the sample
purportedly costing $6.oo per gallon. Although impor-
tant, the effect of price must be eliminated in a theoreti-
cal examination of the relationship between the two
techniques.
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THE YOURNAL OP MARKETING
7OURNAL OF
investigate consumer preferences for
cheese. This investigation consisted of
both initial taste tests and prolonged
consumption tests. In one instance,
preferences of store customers and farm-
ers at a picnic, and in the other, prefer-
ences of college students, nurses, physici-
ans and surgeons, were obtained.
A canvass of 4,293 consumers was
made to determine their preferences for
different varieties and ages of cheese. All
marks of identification were removed
from the cheese and insofar as possible,
every factor influencing choice, excepting
those reflected through taste, were
eliminated. The cheese was given to the
consumers without cost to tlhem.
The tests were conducted among cus-
tomers of retail grocery stores in the fol-
lowing cities: Madison and Milwaukee,
Wisconsin; Atlanta, Georgia; Charlotte,
North Carolina; Cleveland, Ohio; and
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Customers of
these stores were presented with two
samples of cheese of similar shape. Each
sample represented cheese of a different
kind or age. The customers were asked
to state their preferences after eating the
two pieces.
Natural mild American and processed
American were paired against each other
in eleven stores in six cities. Of 2,II2
samplers, 794, or 34 per cent, preferred
the natural mild cheese, and 1,318, or 66
per cent, preferred the processed cheese.
The comparisons between samples of
natural mild and natural aged American
cheese served together in nine stores to
1,302 customers, established that 604,
or 48 per cent, preferred the mild cheese,
whereas 698, or 52 per cent, preferred
the aged cheese.
Natural aged American and processed
8 The data presented in this section are drawn from a
study published as Research Bulletin I28 by the
Agricultural Experiment Station, University of Wis-
consin, October I935.
 JOURNAL OF MARKETING
THE JOURNAL
Americanwere served togetherin seven
stores in five cities, to 879 samplers.
Threehundredand forty-eight,or 39 per
cent, expresseda preferencein favor of
natural aged cheese, and 53I, or 6I per
cent, preferredthe processedcheese.
Prolonged Consumption Test. Aged
American,mildAmerican,and processed
Americancheese were served daily with
the meals for fifteenweeks to a groupof
approximately I o Short Course stu-
dents at the University of Wisconsin,
some twenty-five supervisingnurses of
the Wisconsin General Hospital, and
around ten physicians and surgeons at
the Wisconsin GeneralHospital.
In some instances, the cheeses were
identifiedby "x," "y" and "z" designa-
tions, and in others by differentcolored
doilies.9 The samples were sliced into
cubes, and an unlimited supply was
available at all times to all diners. Al-
though there was some variation be-
tween the three groups,on the whole it
was found that the average daily per
capita cheese intake was .044 pound.Of
this amount,on the average.007 pound
constituted aged Americancheese; .015
pound, mild American;and .022 pound,
processedAmericancheese.
Comparisonof Two Techniques.From
the preferencesexpressedin the initial
taste tests it follows that 27.3 per cent
of the customerspreferrednatural mild
cheese; 30.3 per cent, natural aged
cheese; and 42.4 per cent, processed
Americancheese.10
The relativepreferencesweredifferent
9 Generally, all other things being the same, con-
sumers will tend to prefer samples marked "x" (the
unknown) over "y" and "z." Similarly, consumers have
been observed to express a preference for identical
foods designated by certain colors as against others.
The indiscriminate use of numbers also affects con-
sumers' taste preferences; products designated with
Roman numerals should never be compared with those
with Arabic numerals. Samples marked with numbers
having certain associations, i.e., "57," "66," and "606"
will introduce a bias in the responses.
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155
155
in the prolongedconsumptiontests. Of
the average daily consumption, 34.5
per cent was natural mild cheese; I7.0
per cent, natural aged; and 48.5 per cent,
processed.
CONCLUSIONS
In the chocolate milk study close
agreement was observed in the findings
of the two methods; however, in the
cheese study the findings of the two were
at variance. Perhaps the difference is due
to the manner in which the selection of
interviewees in the two cases was made.
The need for extreme caution in selecting
a representative sample in the taste test
is of prime importance in a comparison
of the techniques.
Although the chocolate milk study
showed an excellent agreement between
the two techniques, there are no other
case studies available which verify these
findings, in order to permit of drawing
definite conclusions as to the theoretical
comparability of the two testing pro-
cedures. Therefore, it is impossible to
pass upon the validity of initial taste
tests conclusively.
Extreme caution must be exercised in
planning and conducting taste response
tests. The symbols (geometric forms, al-
phabetical letters, and numbers) or the
price identification used to designate the
samples affect the preferences of con-
sumers. Procedures applicable to one
type of commodity need not necessarily
apply to others. Considerable additional
information and case studies are needed
before it will be possible to isolate the
factors affecting consumer taste prefer-
ences.
10These percentages were calculated in accordance
with the method developed in connection with a study
in consumer preference rating. George H. Brown and
Gideon Hadary, "Beverage Preferences of Industrial
Workers," The 7ournal of Business, April I944, pp. I I I-
I 17.