Identification of perceptual attributes affecting preference for vegetables using item-focused and consumer-focused approaches

Abstract

Preference for vegetables is closely related to intake of vegetables. Therefore, improvement of vegetable preference is an important issue in nutrition education. In this study, we identified perceptual attributes that affect preference for vegetables using two approaches: an item-focused approach to identify the perceptual attributes that characterize liked and disliked vegetables, and a consumer-focused approach to identify the perceptual attributes that vegetable likers and dislikers emphasize. After participants selected vegetables that they had eaten from a list of 103 types, they selected the vegetable that they liked and disliked. In addition, for each liked or disliked vegetable, they selected perceptual attributes affecting preference for a given vegetable from 12 alternatives. Based on responses obtained from participants, we performed multiple regression analyses to predict two parameters (popularity and unpopularity) for an item-focused approach and two parameters (liking and disliking) for a consumer-focused approach. Eight perceptual attributes (texture, umami, sweetness, aftertaste, appearance, retronasal aroma, bitterness, and pungency) and a partially overlapping set of eight perceptual attributes (bitterness, retronasal aroma, texture, astringency, umami, sweetness, pungency, and appearance) were identified as significant predictor variables for popularity and unpopularity, respectively. Ten perceptual attributes (texture, bitterness, umami, sweetness, pungency, sourness, astringency, aftertaste, appearance, and saltiness) and a partially overlapping set of ten perceptual attributes (bitterness, texture, retronasal aroma, sweetness, appearance, umami, pungency, orthonasal aroma, astringency, and sourness) were identified as significant predictor variables for liking and disliking, respectively. Our findings could be used for nutrition education aimed at promoting vegetable intake. It may be possible to increase overall vegetable intake by providing vegetables with high popularity or devising recipes that mask the distinct perceptual attributes of vegetables with high unpopularity or disliking.