Consumer acceptance of cheese, influence of different testing conditions

The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of various test situations on hedonic responses to food. The experimental sample set consisted of six different cheeses selected on the basis of a sensory descriptive test of a total of 15 cheeses performed by a trained panel. A panel of 87 consumers evaluated the cheese samples for overall liking in three different testing conditions, at a laboratory, at a central location and at home. The consumer panel was divided into three groups, each with different order of the testing conditions. The main results showed that changing the environments and the degree of social interaction in the consumer tests had no significant effect on hedonic ratings for the products. Lack of a natural meal context during testing, similar expectations in the three testing situations and high familiarity of the product category may explain the high degree of consistency in hedonic ratings.