Susan Bell Research works directly for food and beverage clients, and in partnership with Sensory Solutions. We have built up a considerable groundwork of knowledge over many years, and many types of sensory projects.
We have always been able to refine traditional qualitative techniques to make them relevant and insightful for sensory clients.
Sensory qual is not a substitute for quant data; we often use qual to explain quant data. The reasons why sensory quant data sometimes needs explaining are:
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How it is used: in qual, we explore why sensory attributes matter, which is often because of the usage or cooking situation. We can use different kinds of qual, to place the sensory assessment in a realistic context.
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The words: consumers may interpret or use differently from the way the product development team uses them, which can lead to puzzling quant results.
Sometimes we conduct sensory qual as a stand alone project, because we want to learn about the category, or to reduce the number of prototypes to be tested.
Other techniques we can use are:
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Imagery. we can use imagery in qual as stimulus, to help people express themselves. Sensory attributes , particularly fragrance, can be very hard to explain with words alone.
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Qual techniques, such as sorting. We use enabling and projective qual techniques in sensory qual, just as in mainstream 'brand' qual.
These are exciting times in this area - we have access to a bigger range of tools now, including sensory semiotics and the use of online qual methods. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for more information.
