Testing consumer preferences for iced-coffee: Does the drinking environment have any influence?

A consumer study was conducted on iced-coffee in order to investigate the effect of the physical testing environment on liking and consumption of this refreshing drink by French consumers.A water-based product and a milk-based product were tested, and four testing procedures were compared:
• a classic laboratory test in a controlled environment;
• two situational consumer tests performed outside the laboratory in natural drinking situations;
• a situational laboratory consumer test in an environment which was modified to evoke such a natural consumption situation.Results show that liking and consumption are both dependent on the testing situation, involving specific location and surroundings, and a specific consumers’ population. The two laboratory tests gave very similar results, which differ from those obtained outside the laboratory. This work raises methodological questions and clearly emphasizes the need for future studies comparing laboratory consumer tests and tests in natural consumption situations.