Paired preference tests: ‘Liking’, ‘Buying’ and ‘Take Away’ preferences

Paired preference tests of liking require consumers to specify which of two foods are preferred or whether there is no preference. For ‘Buying’ preference tests, consumers specify which of two foods they are more likely to buy or whether there is no operational difference in likelihood to buy. The former test is designed to predict choice behaviour, the latter, buying behaviour. To validate the predictive ability of such tests, consumer choice and buying behaviour should be observed for several months. Another approach is to allow consumers to take away some of the foods used in the test and observe what they take. Consumers of potato chips were required to taste chips whose flavour and appearance were obviously different. A first group (N = 109) were given a traditional paired preference test of liking. A second group (N = 108) were given a preference test of buying. A third group (N = 101) were given both tests. After the test, out of sight of the experimenter, consumers were presented with two rows of plain plastic ‘snack’ bags, filled with the chips used in the test. They could take away either two bags of the same type of chip (a ‘Take Away’ preference) or one of each type (no ‘Take Away’ preference) or take neither (rejection). ‘Liking’ preferences predicted what was taken away for only 48% of consumers for the first group and 45% (third group). For ‘Buying’ preferences, the correspondence was 56% (second group) and 60% (third group). Using buying tests separately or together with liking produced some differences. More reliably, approximately 60% of consumers in all groups chose one bag of each. ‘Take Away’ preferences suggested low predictability for paired preference tests of liking and buying. ‘Take Away’ preferences are not a substitute for following a consumer for several months but they are a step in the right direction.