Source: UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS submitted to NRP
CONSUMER BEHAVIOR WITH RESPECT TO FOOD, NUTRITION AND DIET-RELATED HEALTH
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
0191061
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 1, 2000
Project End Date
Oct 1, 2005
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS
410 MRAK HALL
DAVIS,CA 95616-8671
Performing Department
FOOD SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Non Technical Summary
A greater understanding of the factors affecting consumer behavior is needed. Current consumer testing methods, based mostly on inquiry, are prone to bias, and may not access consumer needs or give an accurate account of their behavior. New, observation-based methods will be developed, tested, and applied to the study of barriers to the adoption of healthful diets by consumers.
Animal Health Component
75%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
25%
Applied
75%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
5025010309010%
5027220309010%
5026299307020%
5036299307010%
5036010307010%
5035010307010%
7026010307010%
7026010309010%
7026010101010%
Knowledge Area
702 - Requirements and Function of Nutrients and Other Food Components; 503 - Quality Maintenance in Storing and Marketing Food Products; 502 - New and Improved Food Products;

Subject Of Investigation
7220 - Sensory evaluation/analysis methods (human senses); 6010 - Individuals; 6299 - Marketing, general/other; 5010 - Food;

Field Of Science
3070 - Psychology; 3090 - Sensory science (human senses); 1010 - Nutrition and metabolism;
Goals / Objectives
The objectives of the research are: 1. To develop new methods for evaluating consumer needs and behavior with respect to choice, purchase, consumption and acceptance of foods, beverages and other consumer products. 2. To develop consumer-driven methods for new product development and quality assurance applications (e.g., product renovation and innovation). 3. To examine the respective effects of product, consumer and environment variables, and their interrelationships, on consumer behavior. 4. To investigate the respective contributions of sensory and non-sensory product variables (e.g., image, price, presentation, etc...), and their interrelationships, on consumer behavior. 5. To research the physiological and psychological barriers to the adoption of healthful diets by consumers, including children.
Project Methods
1. New methods will be developed, tested and validated in the area of consumer testing, with increased focus on observation of the consumer rather than inquiry. This methodology development will encompass aspects of experimental design, data collection, data analysis and reporting. 2. Additional methods will be developed by combining elements of traditional, quantitative consumer testing methods and of the new, qualitative methods developed in 1. above, with a focus on product renovation (quality assurance) and new product development (product innovation) applications. Again, experimental design, data collection, data analysis and reporting will be targeted in this methodology development. 3. We will create and test new multifactorial designs and multivariate methods of analysis to understand and quantify the respective contributions of product, consumer and environmental factors to consumer behavior. This 'behavior mapping' approach will draw from external preference mapping techniques by projecting consumer, product and environment spaces onto each other. We will also conduct cross-cultural studies comparing the responses of consumers from different cultures to selected products in selected contexts. 4. We will develop methods that examine a product's sensory and non-sensory variables jointly and test their application with different commodities. 5. We will investigate the effect of sensory variables (sensory quality of the product and/or sensory physiology and psychology of the consumer) on the adoption of healthful diets. The focus will be on so-called functional foods with high antioxidant activity, because of their problematic sensory quality (desirable phytonutrients often have undesirable sensory properties, e.g., bitterness, sourness, pungency, spiciness or astringency). We will investigate the effect of genetic taste markers, such as 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status, on food preferences and food intake of adults and of children, by comparing taste responses to, and dietary intake of functional foods among the various phenotypes (non-tasters vs. tasters vs. supertasters).

Progress 10/01/00 to 10/01/05

Outputs
We developed and/or applied new methodologies in the area of sensory and consumer testing and data analysis to improve our understanding of consumer preferences and needs. Because we were interested in the potential link between genetic taste markers and food preferences and intake, we developed accurate and precise psychophysical tools for the assessment of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status - a genetic taste marker that divides the human population into non-tasters, tasters and super-tasters. To minimize the inherent biases of traditional consumer data collection methods, we designed new consumer testing protocols for preference mapping applications with coffee products and new ethnographic methodologies for the assessment of consumer purchasing, eating and recycling behaviors. We applied robust design methodology to the study of context effects on consumer behavior. We applied the STATIS statistical procedure to the analysis of time-intensity sensory data. We investigated the physiological and psychological barriers to the adoption of healthful diets by consumers, including children. We found significant links in young adults between sensitivity to PROP and sensitivity to some taste stimuli (caffeine, sucrose, monosodium glutamate) but those links did not really extend to taste anatomy, liking for, or intake of, bitter foods and beverages (they were only significant for a limited number of items). We extended this line of research to 120 children, ages 5-7, and again, found limited relationships between PROP taster status and body mass index, taste anatomy, taste sensitivities, food preferences and food intake. We documented the effects of context on consumer behavior. Context is defined as any variable which is not a product variable (sensory properties, packaging, price, etc.) or a consumer variable (socio-demographics, attitudes, beliefs, consumption habits, etc.). In a study on the effects of context on liking for wine, we showed that context variables such as the presence of food or social interaction had as much of an effect on liking as the winemaking (product) variables in the design. We used cross-cultural research designs to investigate the effects of cultural factors on consumer behavior. We developed a model for the study of consumer behavior that relates measures of consumer behavior such as preferences, satiety, purchasing behavior to product, consumer and context variables, with a special focus on cultural factors (that can be either consumer or context variables). The last component of this project examines the sensory drivers of purchase in the food industry. Which sensory attributes drive the sales of foods and beverages? For three food categories (cheese pizza, chocolate chip cookies and orange juice) we are using multivariate regression models to investigate which sensory attributes (as measured by descriptive analysis methods) drive purchase (as measured by sales, repeat purchase and production data).

Impacts
This research is improving our ability to design foods and beverages that match the preferences of consumers and meet their nutrition and wellness needs by developing observation-based data collection methods and multivariate data analysis methods that accurately measure their behavior, and by increasing our understanding of sensory and cognitive influences on food choice, preferences and intake.

Publications

  • Guinard, J.-X. Sensory and consumer testing with children. Trends in Food Science & Technology. 11:273-283 (2001).
  • Lopez de Romana, D., Brown, K. H. and Guinard, J.-X. Sensory trial to assess the acceptability of zinc fortificants added to iron-fortified wheat products. Journal of Food Science. 67(1):461-465 (2002).
  • Guinard, J.-X. Internal and External Preference Mapping: Understanding Market Segmentation and Identifying Drivers of Liking. In Chemistry of Taste. Mechanisms, Behaviors, Mimics. P. Given and D. Paredes (eds.), ACS Symposium Series 825, American Chemical Society, Washington DC. Pp. 227-242 (2002).
  • Yackinous, C. and Guinard, J.-X. Relation between PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil) taster status, taste anatomy and dietary intake measures for young men and women. Appetite. 38(3):201-209 (2002).
  • Guinard, J.-X., Caussin, J., Campo-Arribas, M. and Meier, J. Effect of exposure to the aroma of a preload on subsequent intake of a food with the same aroma. Journal of Sensory Studies. 17(4):351-363 (2002).
  • Lee, S.-Y., Dangaran, K. L., Guinard, J.-X. and Krochta, J. M. Consumer acceptance of whey-protein-coated versus shellac-coated chocolate. Journal of Food Science. 67(7):2764-2769 (2002).
  • Hersleth, M., Mevik, B.-H., Naes, T. and Guinard, J.-X. Effect of contextual factors on liking for wine - use of robust design methodology. Food Quality and Preference. 14(7):615-622 (2003).
  • Bovell-Benjamin, A. C. and Guinard, J.-X. Novel approaches and application of contemporary sensory evaluation practices in iron fortification programs. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 43(4):379-400 (2003).
  • Chaya, C., Perez-Hugalde, C., Judez, L., Wee, C. S. and Guinard, J.-X. STATIS analysis of time-intensity profiling data. Food Quality and Preference. 15(1):3-12 (2004).
  • Ditschun, T.L. and Guinard, J.-X. Comparison of new and existing methods for the classification of individuals according to 6-n propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status. Journal of Sensory Studies. 19(2): 149-170 (2004).
  • Yackinous, C. and Guinard, J.-X. Relation between PROP taster status and fat perception, touch and olfaction. Physiology & Behavior. 72(3):427-437 (2001).
  • Guinard, J.-X., Uotani, B. and Schlich, P. Internal and external mapping of preferences for commercial lager beers: Comparison of hedonic ratings by consumers blind vs. with knowledge of brand and price. Food Quality and Preference. 12(4):243-255 (2001).


Progress 01/01/04 to 12/31/04

Outputs
Progress is reported for research objective 5 to research the physiological and psychological barriers to the adoption of healthful diets by consumers, including children. We have been extending our investigation of the links between sensitivity to the genetic taste marker 6-n-propyl-thiouracil (PROP) and food preferences and intake in adults to children. PROP taster status, overall taste sensitivity, food preferences and food intake data have been collected for over 100 children, ages 5-7 years. Data collection should be completed by the Spring of 2005.

Impacts
This research is improving our ability to design foods and beverages that match the preferences of consumers and meet their nutrition and wellness needs by developing observation-based data collection methods and multivariate data analysis methods that accurately measure their behavior, and by increasing our understanding of sensory and cognitive influences on food preferences and food intake.

Publications

  • No publications reported this period


Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03

Outputs
Studies are reported for two of the five research objectives. 1. We designed new consumer testing protocols for preference mapping applications with coffee products and new ethnographic methodologies for the assessment of consumer purchasing, eating and recycling behaviors. We also applied robust design methodology to the study of context effects in the evaluation of wine, and the statistical procedure STATIS to the analysis of time-intensity sensory data. 5. We are extending our investigation of the links between sensitivity to the genetic taste marker 6-n-propyl-thiouracil (PROP) and food preferences and intake in adults to children.

Impacts
This research is improving our ability to design foods and beverages that match the preferences of consumers and meet their nutrition and wellness needs by developing observation-based data collection methods and multivariate data analysis methods that accurately measure their behavior, and by increasing our understanding of sensory and cognitive influences on food preferences and food intake.

Publications

  • Hersleth, M., Mevik, B.-H., Naes, T. and Guinard, J.-X. 2003. Effect of contextual factors on liking for wine - use of robust design methodology. Food Qual. Pref. 14(7):615-622.
  • Chaya, C., Perez-Hugalde, C., Judez, L., Wee, C. S. and Guinard, J.-X. 2004. STATIS analysis of time-intensity profiling data. Food Qual. Pref. 15(1):3-12.
  • Bovell-Benjamin, A. C. and Guinard, J.-X. 2004. Novel approaches and application of contemporary sensory evaluation practices in iron fortification programs. CRC Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. In Press.
  • Ditschun, T.L. and Guinard, J.-X. 2004. Comparison of new and existing methods for the classification of individuals according to 6-n propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status. J. Sensory Stud. In Press.


Progress 01/01/02 to 12/31/02

Outputs
Studies are reported for two of the five research objectives. 1. We developed new preference mapping and ethnography methodologies to improve our understanding of consumer preferences and needs. We also developed psychophysical tools for the assessment of 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status - a genetic taste marker that divides the human population into non-tasters, tasters and supertasters. 5. We found significant links between sensitivity to PROP and sensitivity to some taste stimuli (caffeine, sucrose, monosodium glutamate) but not others. PROP taster status was not determined by fungiform or circumvallate papillae density on the tongue. A clear association between PROP taster status and liking for, or intake of bitter foods was not found. It is possible that cultural factors contribute more to food liking and intake than genetic factors.

Impacts
This research is improving our ability to design foods and beverages that match the preferences of consumers and meet their nutrition and wellness needs by developing observation-based data collection methods and multivariate data analysis methods that accurately measure their behavior, and by increasing our understanding of sensory and cognitive influences on food preferences and food intake.

Publications

  • Guinard, J.-X. 2002. Internal and external preference mapping: Understanding market segmentation and identifying drivers of liking. In: CHEMISTRY OF TASTE. MECHANISMS, BEHAVIORS, MIMICS. P. Given and D. Paredes, eds. ACS Symposium Series 825, American Chemical Society, Washington DC. pp.227-242.
  • Yackinous, C. and Guinard, J.-X. 2002. Relation between PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil) taster status, taste anatomy and dietary intake measures for young men and women. Appetite 38:201-209.
  • Guinard, J.-X., Caussin, J., Campo-Arribas, M. and Meier, J. 2002. Effect of exposure to the aroma of a preload on subsequent intake of a food with the same aroma. J. Sensory Stud. 17:351-363.
  • Lee, S.-Y., Dangaran, K. L., Guinard, J.-X. and Krochta, J. M. 2002. Consumer acceptance of whey-protein-coated versus shellac-coated chocolate. J. Food Sci. 67:2764-2769.
  • Guinard, J.-X. 2002. A kid's perception. Prepared Foods 17:28-30.
  • Ditschun, T.L. 2002. 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP) taster status determination and its relation to tongue anatomy, food liking and intake. Ph.D. Dissertation, University of California, Davis. 210 pp.
  • Lopez de Romana, D., Brown, K. H. and Guinard, J.-X. 2002. Sensory trial to assess the acceptability of zinc fortificants added to iron-fortified wheat products. J. Food Sci. 67:461-465.