1.1 This guide covers acceptance and preference measures when each is used in an unbranded, two-sample or multi-sample product test. Each measure, acceptance, and preference may be used alone or together in a single test or separated by time. This guide covers how to establish a product’s hedonic or choice status based on sensory attributes alone, rather than brand, positioning, imagery, packaging, pricing, emotional and cultural responses, or other non-sensory aspects of the product. The most commonly used measures of acceptance and preference in two-sample and multi-sample tests will be covered. These include overall product liking, or acceptance, as measured by the 9-point hedonic scale and preference, measured by choice, either two alternative forced-choice, two alternatives with a “no preference” option, or preference ranking in the case of a multi-sample preference test. Out of scope are using acceptance and preference measures for claims testing. See Guide E1958 for a complete guide to sensory testing for claims.

1.2 Some of the biggest challenges in measuring a product’s hedonic (overall liking or acceptability) or choice status (preference selection) are (a) managing the number and type of products to include in the test; (b) determining how many respondents and who to include in the respondent sample; (c) setting up the questioning sequence; and (d) interpreting the results to make product decisions. The keys to delivering high value acceptance or preference test outputs are using the context to inform design decisions, especially trade-offs, and using knowledge available to interpret findings to inform next steps.

1.3 This guide covers:

1.4 The intended audience for this guide is the sensory consumer professional, consumer insights, or the marketing research professional (“the researcher”) who is designing, executing, and interpreting data from product tests with acceptance or choice measures, or both.

1.5 Two-sample and multi-sample product tests will be covered in this guide. Design considerations and trade-offs, implementation issues, and interpretation contexts may vary depending on what is already known about products relevant to the research and the consumers in the category. There are issues common to both acceptance and preference measures, regardless of the various implementation decisions, for example, selecting the number and type of products to test, determining the scales to use, instructing respondents, and so on, that must be made. Detailed coverage of execution tactics, optional types of scales, various approaches to data analysis, and extensive discussions of the reliability and validity of these measures are all outside of the scope of this guide and can be found in many standard sensory texts. (1, 2, 3).2

1.6 Units—The values stated in SI units are to be regarded as the standard. No other units of measurement are included in this standard.

1.7 This standard does not purport to address all of the safety concerns, if any, associated with its use. It is the responsibility of the user of this standard to establish appropriate safety, health, and environmental practices and determine the applicability of regulatory limitations prior to use.

1.8 This international standard was developed in accordance with internationally recognized principles on standardization established in the Decision on Principles for the Development of International Standards, Guides and Recommendations issued by the World Trade Organization Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Committee.