Some considerations in the measurement of emotions in sensory and consumer research

A recent trend in sensory and consumer research has been to measure emotions and determine the extent to which feelings are linked to consumers' acceptance of foods and other consumer products. The present paper attempts to discuss some of the issues raised by emotion researchers, particularly those in psychology, regarding the nature of emotions. It is argued that many of our routine ideas about emotions lack scientific evidence and that it is unclear when asking consumers to rate their emotions what kinds of data are actually being provided. A conservative and scientifically-supportable way to proceed in sensory and consumer research is to focus primarily on the measurement of core affect, namely valence and arousal, and at the same time measure important contextual and individual difference variables which have been shown to be crucial to the construction of individual emotions.