Polarized Projective Mapping: Comparison with Polarized Sensory Positioning approaches

Holistic methodologies such as Projective Mapping and sorting have gained popularity for sensory characterization of products with both trained assessors and consumers. One of their main disadvantage is that all samples should be simultaneously evaluated in the same session. An alternative to overcome this limitation is to evaluate samples by comparing them with a fixed set of products, as proposed in Polarized Sensory Positioning (PSP). In the present work a combination of Projective Mapping and Polarized Sensory Positioning, called polarized Projective Mapping (PPM), is presented and compared with the two original ways of performing PSP (scale based and triadic-PSP), in terms of conclusions regarding differences between samples and difficulty for consumers. Nine orange-flavored powdered drink samples (including one blind repeated sample) were evaluated by three groups of 45 consumers using PSP, triadic-PSP and PPM using a between-subjects design. Although the three methodologies provided similar sensory spaces, some differences were identified in terms of discriminative ability, conclusions regarding similarities between samples and perceived difficulty. Polarized Projective Mapping seems to be an interesting approach that combines the advantages of Polarized Sensory Positioning and the holistic character of Projective Mapping, providing the possibility of comparing samples evaluated in different sessions.

► A combination of Projective Mapping and Polarized Sensory Positioning is presented.
► Comparison with two ways of performing Polarized Sensory Positioning is made.
► Polarized Projective Mapping seems to be an interesting holistic approach.
► It provides the possibility of comparing samples evaluated in different sessions.