Internal and External Preference Mapping: Understanding Market Segmentation and Identifying Drivers of Liking

摘要

Traditional methods relating consumer and sensory data (e.g., response surface methodology, the regression method) regress averaged hedonic ratings onto mean analytical ratings. By contrast, preference mapping techniques examine the preferences of each consumer. Internal preference mapping analyzes hedonic ratings by consumers for a product set by principal component analysis (PCA) of the covariance matrix, and provides a summary of the main preference directions. Using a number of regression models (from linear to quadratic ones), external preference mapping regresses the preferences of each consumer onto the first two principal components of a PCA of the products' sensory characteristics (derived from descriptive analysis or instrumental measurements). A case study with vanilla ice cream shows that consumer preferences can vary broadly for a given product type and that different regression models are required to relate individual consumer preferences to product sensory characteristics.