Comparison of rating, best–worst scaling, and adolescents’ real choices of snacks

Despite great power on the consumer market, adolescents are an overlooked segment in sensory and consumer science. This segments’ ability to master different sensory and consumer tests have not been studied. This study aimed to investigate the efficacy of adolescents’ use of best–worst scaling and rating of 21 different snacks by investigating these methods’ predictability of adolescents’ real choice of snacks. 387 Danish adolescents (11–16 years old) participated. Rating and best–worst scaling were both able to predict real choice of snack on an individual level but rating performed best. However, best–worst scaling showed greater sample discrimination. With regards to easiness, the adolescents found rating the easiest to perform. The adolescents’ real choice of snacks and background data showed that boys reported a high level of hunger and chose baked savory and sweet snacks, whereas girls chose fruit snacks. Best–worst scaling was found more time consuming to work with, both during the experiment as well as during data handling before data analysis.

► Adolescents mastered rating and best–worst scaling.
► Best–worst scaling and rating were able to predict the adolescents’ real choice of the snacks.
► Best–worst scaling has some advantages compared to rating.
► Boys reported a high level of hunger and chose baked savory and sweet snacks, whereas girls chose fruit snacks.