Usage of "JAR" as a supplement to predict consumer acceptance based on descriptive sensory

Abstract

Konsumententests sind wichtige Teile des Forschungsprozesses und ein Schlüssel für die Industrie. Sie werden geführt, um Produktentwicklung zu stützen, indem man Informationen über die affektiven Antworten der Verbraucher und Reaktion zu den Produkten zur Verfügung stellt. Hierfür benutzt man normalerweise eine hedonische Skala von 9 Punkten.

Consumer tests are an important part of the research process and one of the key activities of consumer goods companies. They are conducted to support product development by providing information about the consumers’ affective responses and reaction to products. The level of acceptance is accessed by asking the consumer how much they like the product. For this a nine point hedonic category scale is usually used.

It has become increasingly common to add so-called “attribute diagnostic questions” to the questionnaire ballot. These questions should help the researchers understand why consumers like or dislike a product, and how product attributes might be changed to increase acceptability. The most “famous” diagnostic question is the “just-about-right (JAR) question”. Despite the ubiquity of JAR questions in consumer testing, the use and utility of these JAR scales have been criticized on several grounds and still raises a great deal of controversy amongst sensory professionals. One of the major critic points is that these scales rely too heavily on the consumers’ ability to judge the characteristics of sensory products. Furthermore, the analysis of JAR responses can pose some problems.

This study was conducted in order to evaluate the usage of JAR scales as a supplement to predict and explain consumer acceptance in multiple product tests based on descriptive sensory. A central location test (CLT) was conducted in three different countries in order to explore the consumer acceptance of a wide range of milk chocolates. In addition to some hedonic questions, the consumer questionnaire contained six JAR questions about pre-selected appearance, flavour and texture product attributes. The aim was to analyze whether JAR scales are an appropriate tool to explore product acceptance and if JAR scales can deliver sufficient and reliable information about the direction of change. In addition, the results of the JAR analysis were compared with the results received through descriptive sensory data in order to determine if JAR scales can provide additional information that cannot be obtained by descriptive sensory.