Effects of added “flavour principles” on liking and familiarity of a sheepmeat product: a comparison of Singaporean and New Zealand consumers

Abstract

Food exporters face difficulties in gaining acceptance for products that are unfamiliar to consumers in other cultures. One way of overcoming such resistance may be to make use of that culture's “flavour principles” as a way of making products more familiar. Product labelling may also be used to emphasise aspects of products which consumers within a culture will value. We evaluated liking for, and familiarity of, samples of a product made from lamb for a group of New Zealand and ethnic Chinese, Singaporean consumers. These two groups differ substantially in their consumption of sheepmeat, with Singaporeans consuming it very infrequently. The samples were a relatively unflavoured control product, plus three other samples flavoured with herb/spice combinations typical of Chinese, Indian or European cuisine. Each consumer received one of three different messages regarding the samples to be consumed, with the samples labelled as either: meat, lamb, or lamb, together with a message about the health properties of consuming lamb. Both groups completed a modified Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), which contained items related to the importance of health in meat consumption. Despite the relative infrequency of sheepmeat consumption in Singapore, the control sample was rated as most liked for both sets of consumers. The main evidence for the action of culture-specific flavour principles was significantly lower liking and familiarity ratings by the New Zealand than the Singaporean consumers for the Chinese flavoured sample. There was no evidence of the action of the different label information conditions, even where groups were divided according to their ratings on the Health factor of the modified FCQ.