Cultural differences in food description and preference: Contrasting Vietnamese and French panellists on soy yogurts

This study investigated the cultural differences in description and preference of soy yogurts formulated for French market between French and Vietnamese panellists, two cultures with important differences in soy and dairy product consumption habits. Two trained panels assessed the in-mouth perceptions of eight soy yogurts and four milk yogurts, using a conventional descriptive analysis method. Three soy and two cow milk yogurts, representing the sensory space of the product set were then assessed by two consumer panels in a hedonic test. A multiple factor analysis (MFA) showed that the two sensory profiles are highly similar. The two panels agreed on texture and taste attributes but cultural specificities were revealed for aroma attributes: French panellists used two times more attributes than Vietnamese panellists (10 vs. 5). While the Vietnamese attributes are related to soy-based products (“raw soybean”, “soy milk” and “tofu”) the French attributes were more diverse and even included references to non-food products (“wood”, “earthy” and “chalk”). The result of the hedonic test showed that soy yogurts were worst appreciated by both panels. In general, the soy and dairy product consumption data of the panellists helped to explain their preferences towards soy or milk yogurts. However this is not the case of a Vietnamese consumer subgroup who consumes soy products frequently. Their hedonic ratings on soy yogurts suggest that they expected the authentic soy-related sensory properties in tasting soy yogurts and these properties might not be found in this new product.