Physiological and emotional
responses in assessing
consumers’ sensory
behaviour and liking
Damir Dennis Torrico, Sigfredo Fuentes and Frank Dunshea
Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC 3055, Australia
Outline
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Traditional sensory analysis
Liking scale
Unconscious behaviour
Cultural differences
Sensory evaluation
Physiological assessments
Conclusions
Traditional sensory analysis
• Conscious and self-reported responses
by consumers
Liking scale
• 9-point hedonic scale for assessing consumers’ liking
• Measurement of product overall acceptance/attribute
acceptability (appearance, colour, flavour, texture,
overall liking, etc.)
Unconscious behaviour
• Physiological responses to stimuli:
– Breathing rate, heart rate, body temperature, skin
conductance
Unconscious behaviour
Biometric variation during assessments
de Wijk RA et. al. (2014)
Cultural differences
http://www.catalyst.org/issues/diversity-matters
Physiological assessments
• Validation system per panellist to calibrate
biometric responses
– Sensory evaluation
• Number of panellists (N=60)
– Asian (N=36)
– Non Asian (N=23)
• Images (Positive, Neutral, Negative)
– Chocolate samples
• Milk chocolate, Moderately bitter, Dark chocolate, Chocolate
with candy inclusions
Sensory evaluation
• Responses
– Body temperature
• FLIR One Infra-red camera and Matlab Video Analysis
– Heart rate: Matlab® Video analysis
– Facial expressions: FaceReader®
Infra-red body temperature
Heart rate
FaceReader®
Conclusions
• A sensory platform was created to study
biometrics such as heart rate, body
temperature and facial expressions.
• Changes in biometrics could explain
differences in liking ratings among different
cultural groups.
References
• Psychophysiological Relaxation Profile (Part III –
Biofeedback modalities; The clinical handbook of
Biofeedback, A step-by-step guide for training and
practice with mindfulness, Author: Inna Z. Khazan;
Year: 2013; Page 67).
• de Wijk RA et. al. 2014. ANS responses and facial
expressions differentiate between the taste of
commercial breakfast drinks. Plos one 9(4): 1–9.
Acknowledgments
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This research was funded by an Australian Research Council (ARC) –
Industry Transformations Research Program (1H120100053 “Unlocking
the Food Value Chain: Australian food industry transformation for
ASEAN markets”). The University of Melbourne – Australia.
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More information can be found at:
http://foodvaluechain.unimelb.edu.au
© Copyright The University of Melbourne 2011