Consumer ratings of situational (‘item-by-use’) appropriateness predict food choice responses obtained in central location tests

Abstract

Measures of product performance that effectively predict food choices are highly sought after. A simple method to add value to simple hedonic data is that of item-by-use (IBU) “appropriateness” or “situational fitness”, where consumers are presented with a list of possible consumption situations and asked to indicate how well a product fits each of them. In a recent paper [Giacalone & Jaeger, 2019], we presented evidence that IBU ratings obtained in response to verbal and pictorial stimuli consistently predicted consumer choice across a diverse range of food and beverage categories. Here, we extend these results to tasted products obtained in four Central Location Tests (CLTs). In all studies, the target products were evaluated by two separate consumer panels, one rating the samples for hedonic and appropriateness (IBU), and the second rating for hedonic and choice likelihood (CL) in response to a target situation. In line with expectations, regression analyses consistently revealed a significant and positive link between IBU ratings and CL, with appropriateness accounting for over 70% of variation in consumer choice. These results confirm that appropriateness predicts food choice even when evaluation depends on sensory modalities such as smell, taste and texture. Taken collectively, these four studies indicate that appropriateness should be considered as an important product performance criterion in CLT evaluations of foods and beverages.