Factors affecting perception and acceptance of food texture by American consumers

Abstract

A series of consumer studies conducted in the 1960s showed that texture is an important attribute of foods affecting acceptance, and that in some foods it may be more important than flavor. Recently, consumers have become even more texture conscious and more appreciative of good texture properties in foods. The factors which affect perception of and attitudes toward texture, such as the neurophysiological and external factors, are reviewed in this article. Special emphasis is given to the external factors, such as the cultural, social, and economic factors which influence food texture habits of American consumers. Due to the growing interest in measuring and understanding consumer attitudes to food texture, extensive research and studies are underway in academia and industry. This article covers relevant topics, cases, and approaches involved in collecting and interpreting consumer responses obtained in such studies. The characteristics of terms used by consumers to describe texture—which are popular, hedonic, and integrated in nature, and usually possess multiple meanings—are discussed. Sensory descriptive analysis is reviewed in its role as a tool for understanding and interpreting consumer perceptions to food texture, and as an aid in relating consumer responses to instrumental measurements. The linking of consumer data to other analytical data and selected issues/phenomena involved in the perception and acceptance of texture by American consumers are discussed as well.