Application of a written scenario to evoke a consumption context in a laboratory setting: Effects on hedonic ratings

Consumer hedonic testing of products is typically conducted under controlled sensory laboratory conditions. This setting does not accurately represent how food and drink are consumed. Literature demonstrates that consumer hedonic ratings elicited in the natural consumption context differ to those elicited under controlled conditions. This suggests that when removing a product from its natural consumption context, accurate hedonic ratings may not be obtained. The interest of this research was to develop an approach that evokes a consumption context in the sensory laboratory and study its impact on hedonic ratings. A written scenario was developed that was effective at making participants imagine an occasion when they desired a refreshing beverage. Consumer hedonic ratings of four apple juice samples elicited using the evoked consumption context (context condition) were compared to those elicited in a control condition (i.e., no evoked context). Differences in mean hedonic ratings of the samples were observed between the two conditions with greater sample discrimination observed for the evoked context condition. Consumers using the evoked context found it easy to indicate their product liking/disliking, and felt that the liking information they provided was accurate, more so than consumers in the control setting. Sensory practitioners need to be aware of the potential use of an evoked context in a control setting for eliciting product hedonic ratings, and understand its impact on mean hedonic ratings.