Exploring differences in Korean consumers' perceptions of plant‐based jerky at different test locations: a comparison of the central location test, drive‐thru test, and home‐use test

Abstract

SummarySensory scientists have experienced difficulties in recruiting large samples of consumers to evaluate food products in controlled spaces at central testing sites during the coronavirus pandemic. Therefore, this study investigated the consumer acceptance and sensory profiling of five types of plant‐based jerky samples at three different testing locations: a drive‐thru test (DTT, n = 119); a home‐use test (HUT, n = 126); and a conventional central location test (CLT, n = 118). The findings revealed that the CLT and DTT groups showed a similar pattern in terms of acceptance for samples compared to the HUT group. After analysing differences in sensory profiling across locations, the number of discriminating sample terms was found to be higher in both the CLT and DTT groups when compared to the HUT group. The regression vector coefficient values of the DTT and HUT compared to the CLT were 0.99 and 0.97, respectively, indicating close similarity in sensory profiling results. These findings suggest that the DTT is a valid alternative to the CLT when conducting analytical sensory testing.