Measuring the drinking experience of beer in real context situations. The impact of affects, senses, and cognition

- The impact of affects, senses and cognition was investigated in craft and industrial beers.
- Liking and purchase intention variables did not differentiate the experience of drinking beer.
- Sensory dimension was found salient for industrial beers, while cognitive for craft ones.
- The experience of drinking beer can be explained based in a three dimensions: cognitive, affective, and sensory.

Product experience is shaped by the interaction between the human systems and the product. Human systems include a sensory system to perceive the surrounding world, an affective system that evokes emotional responses to certain stimuli, and a cognitive system that makes meaning and processes information. We hypothesise that experience is a combination between these three systems rather than a linear continuum of hedonic reactions. In order to test this hypothesis, we conducted a study measuring the experience of drinking craft and industrial beers. A total of 400 consumers were invited to drink beer, rate their liking and select a set of phrases that better described their drinking experience. Results showed no significant difference in expected liking and purchase intention between the eight beers evaluated. However, a difference between beers was observed for the CATA phrases. Cognitive phrases were more frequently checked for craft beers, while sensory, and affective phrases were more frequently checked for industrial beers. A Multiple Factor Analysis for Contingency Tables showed that the sensory and cognitive systems were more related to liking than the affective system.

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