The influence of verbal creativity on generation and usability of attributes

J. Mojet (1), E.P. Köster (2)

1 Wageningen University-Agrotechnology and Food Innovations, The Netherlands;

2 Utrecht University, The Netherlands

 jos.mojetwur.nl

Candidate female panellists (n=116; age range=18-36; medium-higher education) were screened for odour and taste identification, odour and taste learning acuity, and creative potential. Selection of panellists was primarily based on the subjects’ performance on the creativity and taste identification, and subsequently on the odour identification and odour and taste learning tests. Based on the results, three panels were formed, each consisting of 10 subjects.

An F-panel (n=9, 1 drop-out) was formed of women who had a high score on all these tests and a reported preference for fruit based drinks. A B-panel (n=8, 2 drop-outs) was formed of women who had also high scores on all these tests, but had a preference for beer-like drinks. Finally, an S-panel (n=6, 4 drop-outs) was formed of women who had a normal taste acuity, had medium scores on the odour identification tests and had low scores for creativity.

During 6 training sessions, in which 15 non- and low alcohol drinks were used, the number of newly generated attributes per session within a panel was counted. T-tests showed that both the F-panel and the B-panel generated significantly more odour attributes than the S-panel. No difference was found in the generation of taste and after-taste attributes, but both F- and B- panels were slightly better in generating mouthfeel attributes. There were also considerably more drop-outs in the S-panel indicating that people lost interest in the panel work more rapidly. In the F-panel a significant positive correlation (r= 0.80) between creativity scores and the number of terms contributed to the final attribute list was found. No such significant correlations were found in the other panels.