10 - A barnacle-flavored beer?: consumer acceptance of flamboyant tastes in the brewery industry

Abstract

Beer flavors are evolving in the brewery industry, and one example is the Spanish brewery company Estrella Galicia that launched a barnacle-flavored beer in 2018 with great success. In this context, this study addresses the following questions: “Are consumers accepting flamboyant beer flavors?” and further “Is the consumer preference for beer unconventional flavors related to the frequency of consumption?” With this purpose, a quantitative study is developed through principal components analysis, followed by a one-way analysis of variance test to examine the acceptance of beer flavors using a consumer hedonic approach based on like and dislike evaluation. Research findings highlight different liking patterns among consumers, showing that regular beer consumers are much more tolerant with flamboyant tastes than occasional ones. Similarly, results support that consumption frequency significantly affects the preference and liking of beer flavors.