Exploration of a new consumer test method based on metacognitive certainty

Successful product development and marketing necessitate a study of the consumer concept of culture-specific or deep-positioned branded food. In this study, a new consumer test method was designed based on an authenticity test and used as a reference frame for the target concept without an upsetting story. The response format of this method included the metacognitive certainty response following the sensory authenticity response using the A-Not A test procedure. The method was applied to study the concept of goso flavor, as perceived by 91 female consumers with three commercial soymilk products, having each consumer evaluate each product 45 times over three days. The repeated responses of sensory authenticity were analyzed as mean scores and signal detection theory (SDT) d-prime (d′) values of the product difference. From the metacognitive certainty responses after the sensory authenticity response, a new quantitative group measure of d-prime metacognition (d′_MC) was calculated in the SDT context and compared with the other outputs. The measure ranged from negative to positive values, indicating a mismatch to a match for the concept of each product. Data analyses were conducted on both pooled data and segmented data, which was driven from the results of cluster analyses using the mean sensory authenticity scores and SDT C values (estimates of response bias about the concept tested). The results showed that d′_MC of each product corresponded to the mean scores and d′ with the advantage of easy interpretation. Overall, d′_MC can be a useful group measure for studying the consumer concept towards food and beverages.