CONSISTENCY OF LIKING AND APPROPRIATENESS RATINGS AND THEIR RELATION TO CONSUMPTION IN A PRODUCT TEST OF ICE-CREAM

The consistency of hedonic responses to three brands of vanilla ice cr eam over 5 weeks was examined using two procedures. Respondents (n=40) came to the test after their usual lunch and rated their liking for i ce creams side-by-side (three samples in one session) and after ad lib itum consumption (one sample at a time). The quantity of ice cream con sumed in ad libitum procedure was recorded. Respondents also assessed the appropriateness of the three samples of vanilla ice cream to ten u sage situations, including ''as a dessert'' which was the context in t he test situation. The consistency of hedonic responses was low over r eplicates (r=0.03 to 0.48). In the side-by-side condition, only 48% of the liking responses in replicates were within one point (not at all= 1, extremely=9), and 63% in the after-consumption condition. Some resp ondents ate more of all brands than other subjects did in both replica tes, unrelated to differences in liking. The appropriateness ratings o f brands were similar but the ratings of appropriateness ''as a desser t'' differentiated the brands. In the after-consumption condition the ratings of liking and appropriateness, together with consumption measu res, appeared to be slightly more consistent at the individual level t han those made in the side-by-side situation. (C) 1995 Academic Press Limited