Sensory Research is one of the method where market researchers use in order to compare two competing brands and to get significant insights on how a brand can improve its product. We help clients all over the world to create products with superior taste, optimize packaging, improve shopper experience and use spot-on communication. Obviously, this type of test can only be used for food products either stand alone (meaning: the individual ingredients like sugar, noodles, cream, etc) or a finish product (like spaghetti etc).
We have carefully trained senior members of our interviewing staff to assist in kitchen preparation and serving when we host sensory research tests. We understand the paradox of customers saying one thing and then doing another which is why we drill down, we question and we probe.
Although quota management can often be demanding, we have established our protocols that allow us to closely manage quotas, not only during recruiting, but also when interviewing are done on sensory research . We schedule the sessions carefully, allowing enough time to reset the necessary areas and ensure each session’s quotas are met before moving onto the next session.
Our management team has been supervising sensory tests for more than a decade, and as a result, has developed highly sophisticated quota management techniques that work in conjunction with virtually every food and beverage project methodology used in research.
Our facility is uniquely designed to accommodate these types of projects, as respondents are only exposed to the food products once they are granted access to the private tasting center. By unveiling what’s going on in the consumer’s mind, we help you to get a better understanding of the decision-making process.
Doing a blind Sensory Research involves the following process (granting you already have your brand):
- Selection of a similar competing brand
- Developing the questionnaire.
- Preparation of the test materials.
- Determining the test groups in terms of target market and sample size.
- Execution of the test.
- Data Analysis and Recommendations.
I. Selection of a Similar Competing Brand
Emphasis on the word SIMILAR. When you select a competing brand, each should be as similar as possible in order to gain more insight and also to give you an advantage when you determine your recommendations. The similarity can be classified into Price and Category.
II. Developing The Questionnaire
The questionnaire includes the attributes of the products you are trying to compare. The attributes must be rated using either a 3-point scale or 2. In this section, we need to determine if the product is either too much or less performing than the other product.
An example would be:
Color: Too Dark
Just Right
Too Light
The importance of this is for you to determine how the majority of your customers perceived your product in the most quantifiable way.
