How descriptive language copes with the diversity of the senses: some examples from term generation in food and non food products

(Languages and the senses – 2: Across senses within one language)

A. Giboreau (ADRIANT- LCPE) & D. Dubois (CNRS - LCPE/LAM);  a.giboreauadriant.com

Sensory analysis has to face the differential resources of languages across the different senses. The present communication will investigate the diversity of linguistic resources (mainly from French language examples) across sense modalities, from descriptions of a large diversity of products.

We start from the contrast between visual descriptions (simple adjectives) and olfactory ones (in lack of “words”, the olfactory experience is “named” through:

	the noun of typical sources (odour of apple, scent of a rose),
	adjectival forms constructed on verbs (enchanting, aggressive)

accounting for odours as effects or hedonic values.

Auditory descriptions set “in between” with a large diversity of devices:

	simple adjectival forms referring to properties well defined in acoustics (high pitched; sharp),
	nouns referring to typical sources of noises (engine sound, cars…),
	constructed forms referring to the way the noise is produced (creaking) or to its effect (annoying).

Somesthesia presents an even larger diversity of devices:

	simple adjectival forms referring to dimensional values (soft, hard),
	nominal forms referring to substances or matter (cotton like),
	verbal constructions referring to functionality (of the product) (resistant),to the impact of individual gestures or to subjective effects (pleasant).

Taste linguistic resources are limited to the so-called basic tastes or related to odour in-mouth perception, referring to olfactory, tactile or trigeminal sensations (therefore problematic to connect to chemical parameters).

Olfactory experience remains largely individual and poorly shared in common language and panellists require heavy training to get at consensual and stabilised vocabularies. Visual, acoustic and tactile descriptions have to account for the diversity of resources in choosing the best fit to the relevant sensory properties to be valuated and communicated. More generally such diversity in the ways language copes with the senses will be discussed with regards to its consequences on consumer research.

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