Beyond sensory characteristics, how can we identify subjective dimensions? A comparison of six qualitative methods relative to a case study on coffee cups

•The tested methods allowed eliciting subjective dimensions that distribute into several categories.•Projective techniques yielded the greater number of evocations.•Sorting task and repertory grid method are the least adapted methods to identify subjective dimensions.•Word association and sentence completion method seems to be the most comprehensive method to identify subjective dimensions.

This article compares six qualitative methods used to identify consumer perceptions: the sorting task with verbalization, the repertory grid method, the projective technique of word association and sentence completion, the projective technique of image association, a method based on the self-explanation of preferences and the focus group. We applied these methods to a set of coffee cups. For each method, eight different consumers assessed the same eight cups. The terms thus elicited were classified into two pre-established categories: product attributes (this cup is modern) and evocations (this cup reminds me of family time). We then proposed sub-categories: ten for product attributes and five for evocations. The methods were compared according to the number of different variables generated in each sub-category. The ease of implementation and pragmatic considerations relative to the methods are also presented. The test methods enabled the elicitation of different subjective dimensions distributed into several pre-defined categories. According to our criteria, the word association and sentence completion method appeared to be the most comprehensive technique to identify subjective dimensions.