INFLUENCE OF EDUCATION/PROFESSION OF MEXICAN CONSUMERS ON ACCEPTANCE AND PURCHASE INTENT OF CORN TORTILLA

Influence of education/profession of Mexican consumers on acceptance and purchase intent of corn tortillas was evaluated. Two groups of 150 Mexican consumers each (faculty/graduate students [A] versus field laborers [B]) rated sensory acceptability of corn tortillas. Acceptance and purchase intent were rated using a binomial scale. Group B had higher expectations towards corn tortillas as indicated by lower acceptability ratings. Both groups used rollability, resistance-to-tearing, and chewiness to differentiate tortilla samples, but group B paid more attention to these attributes as indicated by higher canonical correlation values. Acceptance was influenced by overall liking for both groups; chewiness and taste were also significant for group B. Purchase intent was influenced by overall liking and taste for both groups, but color for group A, and appearance and chewiness for group B were also critical. This study demonstrated that education/profession of Mexican consumers affected their acceptance and purchase intent of corn tortillas.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

This study revealed that education/profession of Mexican consumers affected acceptance and purchase intent of corn tortillas. Two groups of consumers with different levels of education had different expectation toward tortillas when making purchase decision. Understanding how each consumer segment differently perceives about the tortilla product will give marketers and manufacturers a better direction for developing tortilla products with expected sensory qualities.     

EFFECT OF LIKING, BRAND NAME AND PRICE ON PURCHASE INTENTION FOR BRANDED, OWN LABEL AND ECONOMY LINE CRISP SNACK FOODS

The effect of liking, brand and price label on purchase intention were studied on crisp snacks in branded, supermarket own label and economy form. Unlabeled assessment segregated the products into differing levels of liking which did not correspond to marketed price and brand location. Level of liking dominated purchase intention under partial label (price or brand alone) and full label (price with brand) conditions. Relative and derived purchase intention measures gave clearer label effects with significance for brand and price. Consumers who professed higher price awareness were more influenced by price, but those professing brand as a main purchase intention reason gave more weight to liking. Results from analysis of purchase intention and degree of liking measures according to private body conscious level were inconclusive.     

INFLUENCE OF SELECTED MARKETING FACTORS ON CONSUMER RESPONSE TO RESTRUCTURED BEEF STEAKS: A CONJOINT ANALYSIS1

Restructured beef steaks, formulated with different beef particle sizes, fat content and binder levels, were evaluated with selected marketing factors by 30 consumers. Conjoint analysis was applied to consumers’hedonic scores and statement of purchase intent for raw and cooked steaks. Product preference, packaging and brand had significant (P < 0.05) impacts on hedonic scores for raw products. Price was an additional important factor in purchase intent. Parcooked products, only product preference was important for both hedonic rating and purchase intent. When products were not present, conjoint measurement indicated that nutritional information, price and brand influenced (P < 0.05) hedonic responses.     

INCORPORATING TASTING INTO A CONJOINT ANALYSIS OF TASTE,HEALTH CLAIM,PRICE AND BRAND FOR PURCHASING STRAWBERRY YOGURT1

The objective of this research was to examine some considerations arising from incorporating tasting into a conjoint analysis procedure studying the effects of taste, brand, price and health claim on the buying intent for strawberry yogurt. Specifically, the considerations were: (1) whether people could remember the sensory qualities of the products tasted well enough to re-identify them in a follow-up test, and (2) whether their memory of their liking for the products was stable. Two hundred people who purchased and ate strawberry yogurt participated in a three-part test session. Part 1) They tasted and rated their liking for three yogurt samples and either did or did not take notes on the sensory attributes of the yogurts. Part 2) They rated 27 mock yogurt labels representing 3 brands x 3 taste qualities x 3 prices x 3 health claims on a buying intent scale. Part 3) They rated their liking of the three yogurt samples either from memory or by retasting and they attempted to re-identify the three yogurt samples. Taking notes improved the proportion of completely correct re-identifications (75% vs 50%). Liking reratings from memory were as stable as liking reratings by retasting. Taste and health claim had the largest influence on buying intent; brand had little influence on buying intent.     

COMPARISON OF ATTRIBUTE LIKING AND JAR SCALES TO EVALUATE THE ADEQUACY OF SENSORY ATTRIBUTES OF MILK DESSERTS

Just-about-right (JAR) scales and attribute liking questions are usually used to study consumer perception of the sensory characteristics of food products. The aim of the present work was to compare the performance of attribute liking and JAR scales to evaluate consumers' perceived adequacy of flavor and texture of milk puddings. Two groups of consumers were asked to evaluate eight milk desserts using (1) overall liking followed by attribute liking for texture and flavor and (2) overall liking followed by JAR scales for thickness, creaminess, sweetness and vanilla flavor. Overall liking scores were significantly different when JAR scales or attribute liking questions were considered. Texture, flavor and overall liking scores were highly correlated to each other, providing the same information. JAR scales correlated better with the intensity of sensory attributes evaluated by a trained sensory panel, being JAR percentages a reliable tool to study the adequacy of sensory attributes.

PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS

Results from the present work showed that consumers might not be able to independently evaluate their liking of different sensory attributes of a product. For this reason, the use of attribute liking questions for studying the adequacy of sensory attributes in complex products would not be recommended. JAR scales were better indicators of the adequacy of sensory attributes. Consumers were able to independently evaluate texture and flavor attributes using JAR scales. However, the influence of JAR scales on overall liking scores should be taken into account when including these scales on consumer studies.     

A THURSTONE-COOMBS MODEL OF CONCURRENT RATINGS WITH SENSORY AND LIKING DIMENSIONS

A popular product testing procedure is to obtain sensory intensity and liking ratings from the same consumers. Consumers are instructed to attend to the sensory attribute, such as sweetness, when generating their liking response. We propose a new model of this concurrent ratings task that conjoins a unidimensional Thurstonian model of the ratings on the sensory dimension with a probabilistic version of Coombs' (1964) unfolding model for the liking dimension. The model assumes that the sensory characteristic of the product has a normal distribution over consumers. An individual consumer selects a sensory rating by comparing the perceived value on the sensory dimension to a set of criteria that partitions the axis into intervals. Each value on the rating scale is associated with a unique interval. To rate liking, the consumer imagines an ideal product, then computes the discrepancy or distance between the product as perceived by the consumer and this imagined ideal. A set of criteria are constructed on this discrepancy dimension that partition the axis into intervals. Each interval is associated with a unique liking rating. The ideal product is assumed to have a univariate normal distribution over consumers on the sensory attribute evaluated. The model is shown to account for 94.2% of the variance in a set of sample data and to fit this data significantly better than a bivariate normal model of the data (concurrent ratings, Thurstonian scaling, Coombs' unfolding model, sensory and liking ratings).     

Creating Public Awareness of How Goats Are Reared and Milk Produced May Affect Consumer Acceptability

This study evaluated whether showing a video of the different ways of raising goats for milk affected consumer acceptability. Four combinations, 2 Videos (intensive [INT] and semiextensive [SEM] system) × 2 Milk Types (semiskimmed [S] and whole [W] milk), were evaluated by 70 habitual consumers of goat milk, who scored their liking and purchase intention during blind (B), expected (E), and informed (I) acceptability sessions. In the B session, consumers tasted both milk types without information. S samples were preferred over W samples. In the E session, SEM video created high expectations in terms of milk liking and purchase intent, whereas the opposite happened when showing INT video. In the I session, consumers showed a clear preference for combinations created using SEM video, regardless of milk type. W-SEM and S-INT were worse (negative disconfirmation) and better (positive disconfirmation) than expected, respectively. A complete assimilation toward expectations occurred only for S-INT. INT video adversely affected the acceptability of S samples. Concerning purchase intent, W-SEM and S-SEM were worse than expected, but the assimilation was complete only for S-SEM: SEM video increased purchase intent for S samples.     

上市前限喂对池塘养殖异育银鲫生长及品质的影响

实验采用5种投喂水平:饱食（R100）、80%饱食（R80）、60%饱食（R60）、40%饱食（R40）、饥饿（R0）,旨在探究上市前一个月的池塘养殖中,采用不同程度限喂的投喂策略对异育银鲫生长和品质的影响。结果表明,当投喂水平小于60%,特定生长率（SGR）显著下降,而屠宰率则表现出相反趋势。饥饿组实验鱼呈现出较瘦体形和较硬的肌肉质地。对可能影响肌肉质地的脂肪含量和胶原蛋白总量分析发现,随着投喂水平的降低肌肉脂肪含量显著减少但胶原蛋白总量无显著差异。投喂水平的降低导致鱼体各组织脂肪含量的降低,尤其是内脏脂肪的显著减少。通过SGR与脂肪含量的线性模型,SGR分别解释背肌、腹肌、内脏脂肪含量总变化的56%、66%、71%。在各投喂水平条件下肌肉的粗蛋白含量和必需氨基酸与非必需氨基酸之比维持相对稳定,表明在上市前一个月的池塘养殖中,限喂的方式并未对肌肉的蛋白营养价值造成不良影响。       

MARGARINE: THE DRIVERS OF LIKING AND IMAGE

This paper presents a study of the attributes of margarine, showing the depth of information about consumer perceptions and drivers of liking that emerges from a detailed analysis of relations among attributes. The paper develops three sets of analyses to understand relations among attributes: principal components analysis in order to identify basic dimensions of perception, linear functions relating overall liking to attribute liking or to image ratings in order to identify drivers of liking, and quadratic functions that relate overall liking or image ratings to sensory attribute levels in order to identify optimal sensory levels and to create sensory preference segments. The analyses show how consumer data can generate learning about the consumer perceptions on the one hand, and guidance for product development.     

Breeding success in Blue Tits: good territories or good parents?

Territorial quality and parental quality are usually assumed to be the main sources of variation in the reproductive success of passerine birds. To evaluate their relative importance for variation in breeding time (itself an important factor for breeding success), clutch size and offspring condition at fledging, we analysed six years of data from a Blue Tit Parus caeruleus population breeding on the island of Gotland, Sweden. Hatching dates and the condition of offspring were consistent for territories between years and accounted for 30% and 33% of the variation in these variables, respectively. After removing the effect of territory quality, none of the breeding parameters were significantly repeatable for individual females, but offspring condition was repeatable for males, accounting for 28% of variation. For females breeding on the same territory in subsequent seasons (combined effect of individual and territory quality) only hatching date was repeatable (45% of variation accounted for). In males, the combined effect of individual and territory quality was repeatable for offspring condition and accounted for 33% of variation, but this result was only marginally significant. Consistency of the peak frass-fall date for individual frass collectors over the study period suggests that repeatable hatching dates on territories may be related to the relationship between timing of breeding and timing of peak food availability on territories. Our results suggest that territory quality is more important than parental quality for breeding success in the Blue Tit, and that male (but not female) quality makes a considerable contribution to reproductive success.     

PREFERENCES FOR SOUTHWESTERN SALTED SNACK FLAVORS: INDIVIDUAL DIFFERENCES AT THE CONCEPTUAL LEVEL AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF A PRODUCT LINE

Individuals differ in what they like, both from a sensory basis, but also from a conceptual basis. For a product to be purchased, the concept (or even the flavor name) must be acceptable just as the physical product itself must be acceptable. This paper presents the results of a study in which the panelists rated degree of interest in 12 different new flavors for a snack chip positioned at the start of the study to have a "taste of the southwest." The results show the substantial variation in acceptance for the different flavors presented as names only (viz., concepts, rather than actual products). Segmentation by attitude of consumers on the basis of the pattern of liking revealed differences among consumers, but did not show the typical opposing patterns found when sensory segmentation is done using actual products having different flavors. These individual differences require that a line of different flavors be developed. There is no simple organizing principle, however, underlying the individual differences. Thus to create the line of flavors requires a different approach. The approach selects various combinations of flavors, identifies the proportion of consumers who would accept at least one flavor of the line (so-called "satisfied consumer"), and then maximizes the number of such "satisfied consumers" for a line comprising a given number of flavors.     

EFFECTS OF A SLIGHT COLOR VARIATION ON CONSUMER ACCEPTANCE OF ORANGE JUICE

Three hundred and forty-two consumers participated in a study examining slight color variation in orange juice. Panelists evaluated two orange juice samples; unadulterd juice and the same juice with a slight green off-color. The color manipulation reduced consumer acceptance of the color of the adulterated sample but had little influence on ratings of flavor, sweetness or overall liking. Older panelists were more strongly influenced by the color manipulation and showed a clear preference for the flavor of the control sample as compared to the adulterated sample. These data suggest that color was important for the visual appeal of orange juice, but the color change alone was not sufficient to alter consumer acceptance of this product.     

RESPONSES OF JAPANESE AND AUSTRALIANS TO SWEETNESS IN THE CONTEXT OF DIFFERENT FOODS

The responses of Australians and Japanese to the sweetness of 36 products from 6 food categories, namely beverages, biscuits, cereals, chocolates, fruit juices and jams were compared using 'sweetness liking', 'sweetness strength' and 'sweetness just right' scales. Similar responses were obtained for the two panels with jams and fruit juices, but considerable disagreement particularly as regards 'sweetness liking' occurred with beverages, biscuits and chocolates where there was evidence that familiarity with the products influenced sweetness responses. Where it was possible to compare the 'sweetness strength' of similar products from each country, e.g., strawberry jam, there were no obvious differences. The sweetness of products from both countries covered a wide range of levels, and liking for sweetness levels appeared to be dependent on the context of the product and familiarity with the product. Prediction of liking for the sweetness level of a particular product does not appear possible and it is clear that with a significant number of products from either country that modification of sweetness levels would be necessary for acceptance by the other culture.     

The influence of packaging on consumers’ quality perception of carrots

The aim of the present research was to investigate the influence of packaging design on consumers' perception of quality of fresh carrots. We adopted a conjoint analytic approach in which 251 Danish consumers rated the perceived quality and value (expected price) of nine packaging images, obtained by systematically varying packaging type (plastic bag, plastic box, cardboard paper) and label color (blue, brown, grey). The results revealed that the main attribute influencing the perceptions of the consumer was packaging type. Specifically, the box packages (both plastic and cardboard) were associated to carrots of significantly higher perceived value and quality compared to the plastic bag packages. Furthermore, the study identified the most important aspects consumers attend to when purchasing carrots. A transparent packaging, allowing consumers to inspect the produce, was mentioned as the most important aspect. Being organic and local were identified as the second and third most important, respectively.

Practical applications

Packaging is an important extrinsic product attribute that can influence consumer perceptions of fresh produce. The results have implications for retailers and producers with respect to the choice of packaging and label design. Specifically, consumers associated box packages to higher quality produce, suggesting that carrots in this type of package may command higher price and/or be preferred to bagged alternatives at a similar price point. The study further indicated the importance of using a transparent packaging that clearly allow consumers to inspect the produce, and also suggest that “organic” and “local” are important drivers of purchase for this product category.     

THE USE OF FOURIER ANALYSIS TO COMPARE THE SENSORY PROFILES OF PRODUCTS

A consumer panel comprising 60 females evaluated three coffee whiteners and fresh milk for a number of sensory attributes including liking of flavor and appearance, overall liking, natural flavor and odor, creaminess and watery flavor. Fourier analysis was used to produce a plot which readily identified the whiteners with sensory profiles most similar to fresh milk. More importantly, the whitener whose sensory profile was significantly different from that of fresh milk was identified from the Fourier plot, something which could not be done by traditional univariate methods or even by an overall discriminant analysis.     

SENSORY EXPECTATIONS OF CHILDREN FROM DIFFERENT HOUSEHOLD INCOMES FOR A BRANDED CONFECTIONARY PRODUCT

The influence of brand and price on the sensory acceptability of alfajor (an individual cake covered in chocolate) among children from different household incomes was measured. Two brands of alfajores, “cheap” and “expensive,” were used. A total of 120 children, half from low‐income households (LI) and half from medium‐ to high‐income households (M–HI), participated in the study. They tasted the alfajores in three conditions: blind, package‐alone and package + product. The LI children were not influenced by brand. For the M–HI children, an assimilation effect was observed. The findings highlight the importance of socioeconomic factors in sensory expectation. In the blind condition, if the price is very high, no matter how much a child likes an alfajor he/she will not buy it. If the price is low, the overall liking will highly influence the choice. Implications of results for manufacturers, money providers and nutritional education agencies are discussed.     

TEMPORAL ASPECTS OF HEDONIC RESPONSES1

Continuous measurement of degree of liking for chocolate milk varying in milkfat (0–36%) showed significant fluctuations over the 80 s test period. For 17 judges, samples with intermediate fat levels received maximum liking 20–30 s after placement in the mouth then declined to neutral (neither like nor dislike). The nonfat sample gave a flat, neutral response across time while the 36% fat sample was initially neutral, reached maximum dislike at approximately 20 s then gradually returned to neutral. For 5 judges, increasing degree of liking was expressed for increasing fat levels. For both groups, maximum and minimum time-intensity (T-I) measurements correlated significantly with results from conventional hedonic scaling on a 20-cm line. Degree of liking was unaffected by swallowing or expectorating samples by either T-I or scaling. Thus, similar to perceived intensity, hedonic responses are not static, but show systematic changes during tasting, i.e., from the time the sample is placed into the mouth, through expectoration (or swallowing) until a steady (usually neutral) state is reached.     

Macroecology of a host-parasite relationship

The larvae of freshwater mussels are obligate ectoparasites on fishes while adults are sedentary and benthic. Dispersal of mussels is dependent on the movement of fish hosts, a regional process, but growth and reproduction should be governed by local processes. Thus, mussel assemblage attributes should be predictable from the regional distribution and abundance of fishes. At a broad spatial scale in the Red River drainage, USA, mussel species richness and fish species richness were positively associated; maximum mussel richness was limited by fish richness, but was variable beneath that constraint. Measured environmental variables and the associated local fish assemblages each significantly accounted for the regional variation in mussel assemblages. Furthermore, mussel assemblages showed strong spatial autocorrelation. Variation partitioning revealed that pure fish effects accounted for 15.4% of the variation in mussel assemblages; pure spatial and environmental effects accounted for 16.1% and 7.8%, respectively. Shared variation among fish, space and environmental variables totaled 40%. Of this shared variation, 36.8% was associated with the fish matrix. Thus, the variation in mussel assemblages that was associated with the distribution and abundance of fishes was substantial (> 50%), indicating that fish community structure is an important determinant of mussel community structure. Although animals commonly disperse plants and, thus, influence the structure of plant communities, our results show a strong macroecological association between two disparate animal groups with one strongly affecting the assemblage structure of the other.     

Implications to fleece evaluation derived from sources of variation contributing to cashmere fibre curvature

Cashmere fibre curvature (crimp) has important impact on the softness and quality of cashmere textiles, the efficiency of cashmere processing and cashmere production. This work was aimed to quantify the magnitude and direction of factors affecting cashmere fibre curvature, with data collected from 11 Australian commercial cashmere farms, using general linear model analysis. Nineteen parameters were recorded for 1244 goats. Following log transformation the best model for fibre curvature included farm, age, clean washing yield, mean fibre diameter, cashmere yield, fibre diameter standard deviation, and live weight and the interactions between these terms. The percentage variance accounted for was 71.7%. Mean fibre diameter alone accounted for 39% of the variation in fibre curvature and farm accounted for 49% of the variation. Cumulatively mean fibre diameter and farm accounted for 66.6% of the variation existing in fibre curvature. For the other terms, age added 2.2% and the other fibre measurements a further 2.9% to variation accounted for by the best model. Results suggest that within a farm, using cashmere fibre crimp frequency to estimate mean fibre diameter has a correlation of 0.72—provided the trained observers perform as well as the calibrated laboratory equipment. On the other hand, however, results indicate fibre curvature not to be a reasonable indicator of mean fibre diameter differences across farms. Farm-effects on fibre curvature are large and may explain the difficulties cashmere growers experience when they visit other farms to visually evaluate cashmere goats prior to purchase. This work indicated that heavier goats are likely to produce cashmere with a lower fibre curvature. As this relationship did not differ between farms, it is reasonable to conclude that all goats exhibit this phenotypic response. Using cashmere fibre curvature (crimp frequency) as a tool for changing mean fibre diameter or selecting homogenous batches of fibre for sale will be reasonably effective within a farm, but is not a reasonable indicator and predictor of mean fibre diameter differences between farms.