Annika Åström, SIK The Swedish Institute for Food and Biotechnology, Sweden,
Huguette Nicod, ADRIANT, France, Garmt Dijsterhuis, Unilever, Netherlands,
Anne Goldman, ACCE, Canada, David Lyon, Firmenich, Schwitzerland,
Conor Delahunty, CSIRO, Australia and Chantal Gilbert, CCFRA, UK.

Sensory and consumer science is recognized by many companies as providing the tools and giving the answers to many of the most important factors for being successful in the market place. Sensory and consumer science can be used in understanding consumer behaviour and food choice and relate this to the product characteristics, including the sensory characteristics and also other product features such as image, packaging, price etc.

This Forum will discuss how to choose the sensory and consumer study designs to address some of the most frequently asked questions for the sensory researcher. The Forum will allow free discussion and interaction amongst experienced individuals and others in the audience to facilitate a learning experience.

After one introductory presentation on Diversity of methods in sensory and consumer science by Garmt Dijksterhuis, two typical questions will be presented by Annika Åström and Huguette Nicod and discussed in smaller groups. The discussions will be moderated by Anne Goldman, David Lyon, Conor Delahunty and Chantal Gilbert followed by presentation of the different group’s approaches to answer these questions.

The groups will also be asked to justify their choice of study design. In addition they will be encouraged to give some thought to experiences in their own workplace when dealing with these types of questions.

• How different are the products within a particular category and how does this impact the consumer’s purchase?
• What is the impact of the retail environment on trial and repurchase of the product?
• What are the emotional aspects of the product and the context in which the product is used and consumed?
• What is the business reality of the product, a high or low margin product?
• Is there a realistic budget to perform the research?