INTERRELATIONS AMONG LIKING ATTRIBUTES FOR APPLE PIE: RESEARCH APPROACHES AND PRAGMATIC VIEWPOINTS

Liking is a key measure for applied product development. All too often, however, the liking attributes are simply reported, but other than analyzing overall liking ratings no other analysis is done on the ratings. Much more remains for applied product testers to learn from these liking attributes. This paper presents a detailed analysis of the interrelations among different liking attributes for apple pie. It shows that panelists discriminate among samples using different liking scales, but many of these scales correlate with each other creating a great deal of redundancy in the list of attributes. Factor analysis reveals one major dimension for liking of the entire pie, and three dimensions for liking of slices. A different way of analysis shows potentially more utility for developers. A linear model relating overall liking to each attribute liking reveals different slopes, suggesting different importance levels for the attribute liking scales. Furthermore, one can create an integrated liking model. The liking ratings can be combined into a single, overall product model, allowing the researcher to understand how changes in one liking attribute simultaneously affect all other liking attributes.