•The COVID-19 crisis was studied regarding food, using different information sources.•Google searches regarding COVID-19 were analysed.•The most-watched videos pretended to explain and provide advice ...for COVID-19.•Frequency of Twitter words changed from stocking food to future uncertainty.•During strict lockdown, Spanish consumers bought food items perceived as healthier.
This preliminary study describes the impact of the COVID-19 health crisis on people’s interests, opinions, and behaviour towards food. Here, the evolution of people’s internet searches, the characteristics of the most watched YouTube videos, and Tweeted messages in relation to COVID-19 and food was studied. Additionally, an online questionnaire (Spanish population, n = 362) studied changes in food shopping habits during the lockdown, motivations behind the changes, and perceived reliability of the information received from media. Results showed initial trending searches and most watched YouTube videos were about understanding what COVID-19 is and how the illness can progress and spread. When the official statement of a pandemic was released, trending searches in relation to food and shopping increased. Data retrieved from Twitter also showed an evolution from shopping concerns to the feeling of uncertainty for the oncoming crisis. The answers to the online questionnaire showed reduction of shopping frequency but no changes in shopping location. Products purchased with higher frequency were pasta and vegetables (health motivations), others were purchased to improve their mood (nuts, cheese, and chocolates). Reduced purchasing was attributed to products with a short shelf-life (fish, seafood) or because they were unhealthy and contributed to gained body weight (sugary bakery goods) or mood (desserts). Statements made by experts or scientists were considered by consumers to be the most reliable.
► Emotion measures provide additional data beyond liking. ► Emotional response to a beverage can be separated into two dimensions. ► The two dimensions can be described as pleasantness and level of ...activation/engagement. ► Using both literature and the consumer for emotional lexicon development is recommended. ► Subsequent rating of all terms that apply is also endorsed.
With the rapid proliferation of new products into the marketplace, understanding emotional responses may offer a differential advantage beyond traditional hedonic measures. The objectives of this study were: to determine if emotional data provide discrimination beyond that obtained from hedonic response; to compare the effectiveness of a published predefined lexicon with that generated by the consumer; and, to evaluate the effectiveness of CATA approach compared to intensity scaling as used in EsSense Profile. To this end, the hedonic and emotional response to commercial blackcurrant squash was investigated comparing two different approaches: EsSense Profile™, in which subjects rated a predefined emotion lexicon, and check-all-that-apply (CATA) of a consumer defined (CD) lexicon. Both approaches yielded emotional data that clearly discriminated across the products more effectively than the hedonic scores. Both EsSense and CD-CATA data produced similar emotional spaces and product configurations. In each method, a two dimensional structure (pleasantness vs. engagement/activation) was observed within the product space which corresponded to published circumplex models of emotional response. However, the latter observation was more evident in the CD-CATA approach. The consumer defined lexicon provided a rich and more balanced list of positive and negative emotions specific to the product category although it did lack some terms found to be differentiating on the EsSense lexicon. Also the qualitative nature of the data obtained from CD CATA, limited the extent of the statistical analysis, making it difficult to make the clear inferential conclusions obtained with EsSense Profile. For future emotional studies a hybrid approach, whereby the emotion lexicon is developed combining consumer input and published emotion lists, and is then used to evaluate products using a rate-all-that-apply (RATA) procedure, is proposed.
•Different wine sensory profiles trigger different emotional responses in consumers.•EsSense25 was able to capture differences in emotional response elicited by wines.•The sensory profile of Rosé ...wine was more similar to white wines than to red wines.•The emotional profile of Rosé wine was more similar to red wines than to white wines.•The gender and age of consumers played a significant role in wine differentiation.
Previous research has shown the relevance of studying consumers’ emotional response to products for product development and as a marketing tool to attract the widest range of consumers. This study aims (1) to explain the relationship between emotional and sensory traits of wine products and (2) to understand the effect of gender and age in wine preferences and evoked emotions.
Six different commercial wines with very different sensory properties were selected. Sensory analyses performed by a trained panel of 11 assessors were used to describe wines. Degree of liking and emotional response were rated by a consumer panel (n = 208) drawn from different age segments using a modified version of EsSense25. The results showed that EsSense25 was able to measure emotional response in the set of studied wines. Also, sensory and emotional profiles of the same set of wines revealed a relationship between attributes like fruity and floral and positive emotions, and liquorice, clove and vanilla and neutral and negative emotions. Differences in emotional response by gender and age were found: in general, men reported higher scores on significant emotions than women for all the wines, but women, although they gave generally lower ratings than men, reported greater differences between the wines and were able to discriminate among the wines regarding emotions such as joyful. Also, regarding age segments, all of the wines evoked significantly higher scores in older adults than in middle-aged and young adults for most emotional terms. However, young adults showed higher discrimination between wines than the other age groups, in terms of emotional responses towards the set of wines tested in this study.
•Sensory properties do not affect consumer liking and conceptualisation in the same way as product packaging.•Extrinsic product characteristics related to packaging influence abstract/functional ...conceptualisation more than sensory properties.•Sensory properties are powerful elicitors of emotion.
Thomson et al. (2010) have argued that the key to unlocking the mystery of consumer choice is to assess and measure the ‘meanings’ consumers attach in their minds to the product, which can be referred to as conceptualisations. Conceptualisations can be reduced to three broad categories: emotional, abstract and functional (Thomson et al., 2010). However, little data is available to understand how sensory attributes and packaging cues of a product evoke conceptualisations. The objectives of this study were to: (i) derive emotional, abstract and functional conceptualisation lexicons for a commercial product category; (ii) measure how these conceptualisations, and liking, change across blind, package and informed conditions; (iii) test the hypothesis that abstract/functional conceptualisations are more strongly associated with extrinsic product cues; and, finally (iv) explore the effect of package derived conceptualisations on liking and conceptualisations scores derived from product consumption experience. A lexicon to describe the conceptualisations associated with commercial blackcurrant squash was developed by consumers (n=29). A larger group of consumers (n=100) were then asked to assess their conceptual response to eleven squashes under three conditions: blind, pack and informed using Check-All-That-Apply (CATA). The findings of the study revealed that intrinsic product characteristics have more association with emotions whereas extrinsic product characteristics were more associated with abstract/functional conceptualizations. In addition, the results of the study also showed how package derived conceptualisations influenced the liking score and conceptualisations frequencies between blind and informed conditions in a small number of products. However, a more systematic experimental design is needed to further investigate the hypotheses that follow from the results obtained in this study.
•An improved consumer-defined emotional lexicon has been generated and tested.•Emotional response evoked by beer products has been successfully assessed.•The improved lexicon is more user-friendly ...for consumers.
Emotional response has been the subject of many studies during the last years. Many studies have shown the importance of using consumers to generate emotional lexicons. Chaya et al. (2015) developed a consumer defined (CD) lexicon to assess emotional response elicited by beer products. Shortly after, van Zyl and Meiselman (2015) presented a procedure to ensure that emotional lists were fully composed by emotions. The present research was developed to improve and test the lexicon developed by Chaya et al. (2015) following the approach proposed by van Zyl and Meiselman (2015). The proposed procedure allowed an easy filtering of terms for the study of emotional response. As a consequence, the test was shorter, clearer, and easier to understand and to complete by consumers. The improved emotional lexicon of beer favoured 1) the efficiency of the research in terms of discrimination among samples, 2) the simplicity of use by the consumers.
In this study, our objective was to show the effects of pH and calcium on the techno functional properties of four pulse flours (chickpea, lentil, red lentil, and white bean) and the rheological ...properties of their pastes and gels. Five conditions were considered: a natural condition and four modifications (pH 3 and pH 5; with or without calcium addition). All measured properties varied with the type, condition, and the interaction among them. All flours exhibited high foaming capacity (44.3 − 78.8%) and emulsifying capacity (46.6 − 49.9%). The white bean flour showed a high water holding capacity (1.6 – 2.0 g/g), and the red lentil, lentil, and chickpea formed strong gels and high viscosity pastes. For the four pulses, the water holding capacity and foaming capacity of the flours and the viscosity of the pastes were improved by decreasing the pH (at 3 or 5) plus the addition of calcium. The hardness, elasticity, and resistance of gels obtained from pulse flours (except for white bean) were high when using natural conditions. Lowering pH resulted in a reduction of these parameters.
Highlights
The properties of the flours were affected by pH and Ca differently depending on the pulse.
The water holding capacity and foaming properties of pulse flours are improved by lowering pH and adding calcium.
The viscosity of pulse flour pastes is improved by lowering the pH to 5 and 3.
The strengths and elasticity of the pulse gels were reduced when the pH was decreased and calcium was added except for white beans.
► The proposed Spanish-version of the FNS performs properly with Spanish consumers. ► Results on Food Neophobia of Spanish consumers are presented. ► It could be useful in countries where Spanish is ...used as the first language.
Food neophobia has been the subject of many studies over the last two decades in several countries, as it affects both the quality and variety of foods in the diet. Pliner and Hobden (1992) developed and tested a 10-item verbal instrument, the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS) to quantify this individual trait. FNS has been widely applied to predict willingness to try new foods. There has been concern about the meaning and interpretation of individual FNS statements in different populations and cultures. Although it is tempting to compare FNS scores across these studies, appropriate psychometric analyses are required to test the scale and allow cross-cultural comparisons. In Spain, there are few studies based on testing the FNS in the Spanish language, as well as its application among the Spanish people. Therefore, the aim of this study is to propose and test a Spanish version of the FNS using different psychometric measures and to study food neophobia among Spanish consumers (N=309).
The results showed that the Spanish food neophobia mean value was 31.74 (S.D. 10.98). Gender effect was close to significance (p<0.062) and age effect was significant (p<0.003). Reliability of FNS was assessed, FNS Cronbach’s alpha was 0.82 and item-total correlations for items 9, 3 and 2 ranged from 0.52 to 0.57, showing lower associations of these items to food neophobia scores. PCA results also showed that the Second Principal Component clearly separates reversed (negative correlation) from unreversed items (positive correlation). In fact, the relationship between FNS and willingness to try two unfamiliar foods (aloe vera drink and rice sesame sweet) was confirmed (p<0.05). In conclusion, the proposed Spanish version of the FNS performs properly with Spanish consumers.
► Level of dilution and ingredient complexity impact on blackcurrant squash flavour profile. ► TDS lexicon can be successfully derived from initial QDA. ► TDS provides additional and complementary ...data alongside a QDA profile.
Quantitative descriptive analysis (QDA) is used to describe the nature and the intensity of sensory properties from a single evaluation of a product, whereas temporal dominance of sensation (TDS) is primarily used to identify dominant sensory properties over time. Previous studies with TDS have focused on model systems, but this is the first study to use a sequential approach, i.e. QDA then TDS in measuring sensory properties of a commercial product category, using the same set of trained assessors (n=11). The main objectives of this study were to: (1) investigate the benefits of using a sequential approach of QDA and TDS and (2) to explore the impact of the sample composition on taste and flavour perceptions in blackcurrant squashes. The present study has proposed an alternative way of determining the choice of attributes for TDS measurement based on data obtained from previous QDA studies, where available. Both methods indicated that the flavour profile was primarily influenced by the level of dilution and complexity of sample composition combined with blackcurrant juice content. In addition, artificial sweeteners were found to modify the quality of sweetness and could also contribute to bitter notes. Using QDA and TDS in tandem was shown to be more beneficial than each just on its own enabling a more complete sensory profile of the products.
In this work, Trujillo melons were harvested across three years (2011–2013) in La Mancha region. Instrumental and sensory analysis were used for studying Trujillo melons. Solid phase extraction (SPE) ...was used for isolating free aroma compounds, and then, they were analysed by gas chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Fifty-five (55) volatile compounds were identified and quantified in La Mancha Trujillo melons over this three-year period. Experienced tasters evaluated the sensory profile of Trujillo melons, and it was characterized by jam/marmalade, cucumber, fresh fruit, sweet, green, honey and ripe fruit aroma descriptors and sweet, honey, jam/marmalade, cucumber, fresh fruit ripe fruit, spice and green flavour by mouth descriptors. This study represents the first complete aromatic characterization of Trujillo melons from La Mancha region. The obtained data suggested that these melons presented a great aromatic profile and that they represent a viable alternative for expanding the traditional market.
Woodrow Wilson is the only American political scientist to have served as
President of the United States. In the time between his political science Ph.D.
(from Johns Hopkins, in 1886) and his tenure ...as president (1913–21),
he also served as president of Princeton University (1902–10) and
president of the American Political Science Association (1909–10).
Wilson is one of the most revered figures in American political thought and in
American political science. The Woodrow Wilson Award is perhaps
APSA’s most distinguished award, given annually for the best book on
government, politics, or international affairs published in the previous year,
and sponsored by the Woodrow Wilson Foundation at Princeton University. Wilson has also recently become the subject of controversy, on the campus of
Princeton University, and in the political culture more generally, in connection
with racist statements that he made and the segregationist practices of his
administration. A group of Princeton students associated with the
“Black Lives Matter” movement has demanded that
Wilson’s name be removed from two campus buildings, one of which is
the famous Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs (see Martha
A. Sandweiss, “Woodrow Wilson, Princeton, and the Complex Landscape
of Race,” http://www.thenation.com/article/woodrow-wilson-princeton-and-the-complex-landscape-of-race/).
Many others have resisted this idea, noting that Wilson is indeed an important
figure in the history of twentieth-century liberalism and Progressivism in the
United States. A number of colleagues have contacted me suggesting that
Perspectives ought to organize a symposium on the Wilson
controversy. Although we do not regularly organize symposia around current
events, given the valence of the controversy and its connection to issues we
have featured in our journal (see especially the September 2015 issue on
“The American Politics of Policing and Incarceration”),
and given Wilson's importance in the history of our discipline, we
have decided to make an exception in this case. We have thus invited a wide
range of colleagues whose views on this issue will interest our readers to
comment on this controversy. —Jeffrey C. Isaac, Editor.
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