Internal versus external preference analysis: An exploratory study on end-user evaluation

Internal and external preference analysis emphasise fundamentally different perspectives on the same data. We extend the literature on comparisons between internal and external preference analysis by incorporating the perspective of the end user of the preference analysis results. From a conceptual analysis of the methodological similarities and differences between these two techniques, we develop and implement a framework for end-user evaluation of preference analysis output in terms of perceived actionability for food technology, marketing and creative purposes as well as comprehensibility and perceived appropriateness at the marketing–R&D interface. Overall, this exploratory study suggests that end-users find information from external analysis more actionable for food technological tasks. Internal preference analysis holds a clear advantage on marketing actionability and new product creativity. No preference technique holds a clear advantage on marketing–R&D interface appropriateness and comprehensibility. Rather than recommending applying both techniques, we suggest several ways forward in better exploiting the synergy between these two approaches.