Etudes Sur Des Nouveau Nes

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SENSORY STUDIES WITH CHILDREN:NEEDS; METHODS AND RECENT GERMAN RESULTS*

LES TESTS SENSORIELS AUPRÈS DES ENFANTSBESOINS, MÉTHODES ET RÉSULTATS RÉCENTS DU MARCHÉ

ALLEMAND

Robert Christian Haller

Résumé

La consommation alimentaire des nouveaux nés est régulée à la fois par le besoin demanger et le plaisir. Le contrôle de ce mécanisme vital est inné. Plus tard, après lesevrage, le choix de l’alimentation et les comportements envers celle-ci sont influencéspar les phénomènes sociaux culturels. Dés deux ans, lorsqu’ils se trouvent confrontés àdes aliments encore inconnus, les enfants sont dèjà partagés entre sentiments decuriosité et de rejet. Peu de temps après, ils commencent à découvrir et mémoriser lesmarques et les images. Les expériences négatives effectuées avec certains alimentspeuvent alors influencer le comportement alimentaire de toute une vie.De récentes études conduites en Allemagne par le laboratoire d’analyse sensorielASAP, ont démontré que pour les enfants, la qualité sensorielle des produitsalimentaires est plus importante que la marque ou l’image véhiculée par celle-ci. Eneffet les enfants, et en particulier les plus jeunes, associent leur marque préférée auproduit qui a le meilleur goût. Par allieurs, d’autres résultats ont démontré que lesenfants entre 5 et 13 ans sont tout à fait capables d’exprimer d’une part leurspréférences et non préférences sensorielles, d’autre part de hiérarchiser cespréférences par le biais de différentes techniques de mesures.

Abstract

Food intake of newborn babies is regulated by hunger and satisfaction. The necessarycontrol mechanism is inborn. At the latest after stopping nursing a social-culturalprocess starts to influence human food choice and intake behaviors. Already with 2years children are split between feelings of curiosity or rejection when confronted withunknown food products. Nearly simultaneous children start to discover and memorizebrands and images. Especially negative experiences with food products may rest andinfluence the eating behavior a life long. Recent German reports show that for kids thesensory quality of a food product is more important than its brand or image.Particularly young kids choose their favorite brand only as long as there is not anotherone tasting better. Recent studies done at the ASAP sensory lab proved that childrenbetween 5 and 13 years are able to express their likes or dislikes of food products andto distinguish accurate between their sensory preferences when exposed to differentscaling methods.

* Paper published within the AGORAL Congress Summary Edition, University of Dijon, FRANCE, 1996.

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Inborn PreferencesMeasuring sensory preferences with babies are limited by their lack of verbalexpression. One solution is the interpretation of the facial reactions after stimulating thetaste buds with different substances. The preference for sweet and the aversion for bitterare supposed to be inborn. Sweet tastes are linked to a save and quick absorption ofenergy, while bitter tastes are a danger signal for rotten or toxic food products. Tests onbaby pulps are mostly done by asking the mother to rate the reaction after feeding thebaby over a certain time of days. Besides the amount of consumption the overall well-being of the baby is recorded in a diary.

Fear and mere-exposure effectSmall children start to have an order of preference for food products with about 2 years.Especially the kids between 2 and 4 years prefer known products towards unknown.Often strange tastes like exotic fruits or unknown vegetables are totally rejected, whilethe rest of the family is consuming the product. Preferences have to be learned. Themore often the children consume a certain food product, the more raises its acceptance.The connection between the sympathy of a food product and the frequency ofconsumption is named the mere-exposure-effect. Therefore stopping to present aproduct because the child refused it at the first or second time may unintentional limitits possible sensory experiences. A scientific discovery which consequently asks insensory and market research for more duration experiments instead of the presentcommon single try tests.

Learning through experience and influence by social contactsChildren under 4 years do not distinguish between unhealthy, risky or wrong foodconsumption. Disgust and to avoid dangerous food has to be learned. The situations inwhich food is consumed are hereby decisive. Children accept new products more easilywhen presented by familiar persons, like the mother. The influence is even greater whenthe person eats the product at the same time. Kids between 7 to 9 years consume adistinct larger variety of food products than 13 to 15 year old. Food used as a means ofreward increases the acceptance. On the other hand does the combination of eating adisliked food product with a liked activity lead to a negative preference. Children aremuch more influenced in their preferences by other children, especially the same agelike sisters or brothers, than by parents or other adult educators. Food products eaten byadults raise children’s acceptance but not their preference. On the other hand does socialpressure in the group easy change kids food preferences. Logically questioning theparents or other adults may lead to false conclusions in market research.

Kids: A dominating factor in the food marketNever have kids been so independent as today. In 1996 German the 9,6 million kidsbetween 6 and 17 years had a buying power from about 17 billions DM at theirpersonnel disposal (according to the KVA = Kids Verbraucher Analyse). A study doneby the IJF (Institut für Jugendforschung, Munich) showed that in the food market kidshad 1993 in 39% (1988: only 29%) of the recorded product fields a very precise favorfor a certain brand. The kids between 7 and 9 years consumed a much wider selection offood product than the 13 to 15 year old. Pasta was the most preferred product, followedby chocolate, salty stuff to nibble and ketchup. Porridge oats and frozen fish were at theend of the hit list. Fruit juices were still expressed before cola-drinks. In comparisonbrands had a very dominate position by chocolate/nut creams, cola-drinks or cornflakes,while the preferred pasta was not yet linked to a certain brand. Kids have an enormousinfluence on the shopping decisions of their parents. US studies say that the influence in

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businesses like electronics, clothing or free-time activities is between 5% to 20%, whilein the food market 80% of the decisions are direct or indirect influenced by the kids.

Sensory and consumer studies with childrenBased on this knowledge ASAP and the Ehapa Verlag (part of the Danish GutenbergHuus-Company, publishing magazines like Micky Mouse or Asterix and Obelix)decided 1994 to do a very profound study, following three main questions:1. Do children really have favorite brands in the food market?2. What and/or who influences their decision for a favorite brand?3. Which role in the decision process play sensory (intrinsic) product factors?To answer the first question quantitative methods of market research where used. TheIJF institute made in Germany face to face interviews with a representative sample of524 children between 7 and 15 years old. The children were asked to name their„favorite brands“ in 34 different product groups of the food market. The interview wasunsupported, the children had to name the brand out of their memory.

The children named more than 700 different „favorite“ brands. A giant figure which ledto the conclusion that children know much more brands in the food market than in anyother consumer field. Interesting was, that the children had only in 5 out of the 34product fields more than one favorite brand. Also was a big difference found betweendifferent product fields. In some fields the children knew a lot of brands, in some onlyvery a few.

Per cent

Food-Study Favourite Brands (Age 7-15 years)

FRUIT-YOGHURTS

Reference: IJF (Sample Size = 524 / Age: 7 - 15 years)- unsupported answers of favourite brands -

Gervais-Danone

Ehrmann

Zott

Bauer

M üller

Südmilch

Nestlé

Tuffi

Onken

M ilram

0 10 20 30 40 50

Gervais-Danone

Ehrmann

Zott

Bauer

M üller

Südmilch

Nestlé

Tuffi

Onken

M ilram

Different brands total: 26False naming: 1No naming: 42Favourite brands per child: 1,5

48

13

13

12

11

8

2

2

2

2

Reference: EHAPA Verlags GmbH (1994), page 16.

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Mars

Milka / Lila Pause

Ferrero

Duplo

Snickers

Twix

KInder-Schokol.

Bounty

Milky Way

Hanuta

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Mars

Milka / Lila Pause

Ferrero

Duplo

Snickers

Twix

KInder-Schokol.

Bounty

Milky Way

Hanuta


28

28

16

12

12

12

11

9

8

3

Per cent


CHOCOLATE-BARS

Reference: IJF (Sample Size = 524 / Age: 7 - 15 years)- unsupported answers of favourite brands -

Per cent


KETCHUP

Reference: IJF (Sample Size = 524 / Age: 7 - 15 years)- unsupported answers of favourite brands-

Heinz

Kraft

Thomy

Livio

Rewe

A & P

Aldi

Delicado

0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Heinz

Kraft

Thomy

Livio

Rewe

A & P

Aldi

Delicado


34

28

19

16

2

1

1

1

Reference: EHAPA Verlags GmbH (1994), page 20,22.

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In comparison to the non-food-sector where favorite brands correspond with highprestige, children seem to use food brands more as a tool of understanding or trust.Prestige is only secondary, e.g. only Coca-Cola made it yet to use its name as acceptedcommercial on T-shirts.

What are than the main factors for children to prefer a certain brand in the food market?In a second part of the study ASAP sent 114 children between 8 and 13 years (50%girls; 50% boys) shopping in the store they usually buy food products. The kids got alist of 17 product groups (e.g. a fruit juice, a yoghurt...) and 100 DM and had to shopone product out of each group on the list. Immediately after shopping, the kids had tobring all products to the ASAP lab. Here an interviewer examined for product afterproduct the exactly reasons why this product had been chosen. After the child hadanswered in own words, some structured questions where asked on general buyinghabits.

A first result was, that in average 70% of the children had decided to buy their favoritebrand and succeeded doing this, while 7% percent made the same decision, but couldn’tfind their favorite brand in the shop. Only 15 percent had no favorite brand in thisproduct group and 8 percent of the children decided to try another brand this time.


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Two out of three kids had the impression not to be influenced by other persons in theirpreference choice, 22% thought their parents and 9 percent their friends had influencedthem. Furthermore 80% answered that advertisement or commercials did not influencethem. Also this results were just the impressions of the children, it is very important toknow how children feel, especially that they think to be free in their decisions ascustomers also the mechanisms in our society and economy are different from thisfeelings.The main justification to the question: „Why did you buy this product?“ was for nearlyevery product: „Because I like the taste of this product!“. Most of the children added adescription of the special taste of the product to the interviewer.

Because it tastes good and like real fruitsBecause I saw good and funny advertising Because there are original pieces of fruits in itBecause it is so creamy and feels good in my mouth

Because of the nice colour of the product

Because the packaging is nice (fruits on it)

Because there are a lot different types of flavors

Because it´s just the right amount of product

Because it's healthy (vitamines and no preservatives)

Because of enviromental protection, less packaging

Fruit yoghurts and fruit desserts

>50% of the kids >25% of the kids less than 25% of the kids


In consequence the most exiting question was, what would happen with the personalchosen favorite brand if evaluated in its sensory quality in a blind test. Therefore thechildren were again invited to the ASAP lab some days later and were presented theirfavorite product together with two other products out of the same product field. Thekids were asked to rate taste, mouthfeel and aftertaste of the products in a blind test on ahedonic scale and to name if the product is their favorite brand or not. This was done for15 out of the 34 product groups. To avoid that the children detect their preferredproducts simply by appearance, the tests were done in almost total dark booths. Thisexcluded also the effect, that children concentrate in their judgments to a high degree onappearance.In 12 of the 15 product groups the kids distinguished significantly in their hedonicjudgment between the products. 36% detected their original „favorite“product again, but also 35% discovered a new „favorite“.

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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Mini-Dickmann´s

Super Dickmann´s

Wolf Topfkuß

M+M´s (braun)

Ferrero Küßchen

Alpia Alpinos

Weihenstephaner Butter

Kerrygold Butter

Rama Margarine

Wrigley´s Big Red

Wrigley´s Orbit Pepperm.

Wrigley´s Juicy Fruit

Käpt´n Iglo Fischstäbchen

Die Weissen Fischstäbchen

Iglo Schlemmerfilet Estragon

Capri-Sonne Orange

Capri-Sonne Safari-Früchte

Sunkist Orange

Milka Alpenmilch

Milka Joghurt

Milka Weiße Crisp

Butter-Leibniz

Bahlsen ABC Russich Brot

Brandt Kaffee-Gebäck

Kellogg´s Frosties

Kellogg´s Schoko Pops

Kellogg´s Corn Pops

Hanuta

Milchschnitte

Knoppers

Nesquik

Milka Drink

Kaba

Prinzenrolle

Schoko-Leibniz (Vollmilch)

De Beukelaer Dinos

Sprite

Fanta

Fanta light

Milky Way Schoko

Nutella

Nusspli

Heinz Ketchup

Kraft Ketchup

Livio Ketchup

in %

Favourite Brands confirmed in the sensory blind-test

n = 114 (Age: 8 - 13 years)


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0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70

Mini-Dickmann´s

Super Dickmann´s

Wolf Topfkuß

M+M´s (braun)

Ferrero Küßchen

Alpia Alpinos

Weihenstephaner Butter

Kerrygold Butter

Rama Margarine

Wrigley´s Big Red

Wrigley´s Orbit Pepperm.

Wrigley´s Juicy Fruit

Käpt´n Iglo Fischstäbchen

Die Weissen Fischstäbchen

Iglo Schlemmerfilet Estragon

Capri-Sonne Orange

Capri-Sonne Safari-Früchte

Sunkist Orange

Milka Alpenmilch

Milka Joghurt

Milka Weiße Crisp

Butter-Leibniz

Bahlsen ABC Russich Brot

Brandt Kaffee-Gebäck

Kellogg´s Frosties

Kellogg´s Schoko Pops

Kellogg´s Corn Pops

Hanuta

Milchschnitte

Knoppers

Nesquik

Milka Drink

Kaba

Prinzenrolle

Schoko-Leibniz (Vollmilch)

De Beukelaer Dinos

Sprite

Fanta

Fanta light

Milky Way Schoko

Nutella

Nusspli

Heinz Ketchup

Kraft Ketchup

Livio Ketchup

in %

New Favourite Brands detected in the sensory blind-test

n = 114 (Age: 8 - 13 years)


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Children are quite sure to have a favorite brand from which they can tell the name andwhich they prefer to buy, when free to choose. But this favorite food product is quickreplaced by another one, if the kids have the chance to test a new one and feel the newtastes better. These results confirm the special situation of children in the food marketand the importance of the sensory quality of food products.

In the 8 years since the foundation of the ASAP company (an institute specialized onsensory research) numerous studies with children showed that children express easilytheir hedonic judgment on food products when the adequate test designs and questiontechniques are used. A recent study on a range of yoghurt drinks discovered the failureof a me-too product line as a matter of lack in the sensory qualities.

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2,5

3

3,5

4

4,5

5

appearance smell taste

Me-too raspberry competitor raspberry Me-too strawberrycompetitor strawberry Me-too banana competitor banana

Reference: Confidential ASAP Study on yoghurt-drinks, June 1995.

N= 100 kids (Age: 7-10 years)

Sensory Preference-Test on Fruit Yoghurt-Drinkswith kids

5 point scale

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Of course the used scaling methods have to be adapted to the possibilities of thechildren, depending on the their age. In a study a student from the University ofWeihenstephan and ASAP tested together various types of scales (3-, 5-, 9-point andline scales) for sensory testing with children between 5 and 8 years, using differentsymbols as anchors. The scales were tested for their strength of discrimination withdifferent sweet solutions and their ability to distinguish the kids hedonic judgments withdifferent fruit juices. While all scales discriminated between the sweet solutions, onlythe line-scale with two Micky Mouse faces as anchors separated the fruit juices in thehedonic test. It seems like children understand simplest a scale using a very familiarcharacter (as the Micky Mouse), which is in its drawn expressions close to human facesfor liking and disliking. For the children a 5-point scale, using 5 different Micky Mousefaces in gradual expressions was less easy to interpret than the two extreme anchorswith a line in between.

Reference: Coric S. (1996), p. 49. Copyright: Disney Corp..

Main results and consequences for sensory and market researchChildren are very interested in all kinds of food products, not only the classic sweetstuff. They have and express already precise ideas what they like and what they dislike.Kids are liable to trends, which are formed quicker and quicker today. The kidsinfluence on the family’s purchasing behavior is huge. Children are curious and on apermanent culinary trip, trying to discover and to try out new sensations, more than inany other period of life. Especially the group from 10 to 12 years develop first strongpreferences for products and brands. Advertising, promotion and package design areessential tools to get the kids interest and to introduce through them new products toother members of the family. Children act as a kind of negative gatekeeper in thefamily, because they also reject uncompromisingly any disliked food product. Childrenchose their brands because they like the appearance and the taste, meaning theexperiences or the imaginations of the taste they have. But a brand or a label of a foodproduct is only a sign for intimacy and stays as long a favorite as there is no better tastedetected. Children are very critical and can easily distinguish between the sensorysensations of different food products.

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References (general)

Beauchamp G.K. and Moran, M.: „Dietary Experience and Sweet Taste Preference inHuman Infants“. Journal for Intake Research (1982), 3 : 139-152.

Bernstein I.L.: „Learned taste aversions in children receiving chemotherapy“. Science(1978), 200 : 1302-1303.

Bernstein I.L. and Webster M.M.: „Learned taste aversions in man“ (1980).

Birch L.L.: „Dimensions of preschool children’s food preferences“: Journal of NutritionEducation (1979) : 77-80.

Birch L.L.: „The relation between children’s food preferences and those of theirparents“. Journal of Nutrition Education (1980) : 14-18.

Birch L.L.: „Effects of peer models’ food choices and eating behaviors on preschoolers’food preferences“. Child Development (1980), 51 : 489-496.

Birch L.L. and Marlin D.W.: „I don’t like it; I never tried it: effects of exposure on two-year-old children’s food preferences“. Appetite: Journal of Intake Research (1982); 3 :353-360.

Birch L.L.: „The acquisition of food acceptance patterns in children“. In: R.A. Boakes:„Eating habits“. Chichester (1987) : 107-130.

Birch L.L., McPhee L., Sullivan S. and Johnson S.: „Conditioned meal intake in youngchildren“. Appetite: Journal of Intake Research (1989), 13 : 105-113.

Booth D.A.: „Momentary acceptance of particular foods and processes that change it“.In: J. Sols & R.C. Hall: „Criteria of food acceptance“. Zürich (1981).

Capretta P.J., Moore M.J. and Rossiter T.R.: „Establishment and modification of foodand taste preferences: Effects of experience“. The Journal of General Psychology(1982), 12 : 171-182.

Coric S.: „Untersuchung ausgewählter Skalen auf ihre Eignung für den Einsatz beisensorischen Prüfungen mit Kindern“. Freie wissenschaftliche Arbeit der TechnischenUniversität München (Ökotrophologie), Weihenstephan (1996).

Cowart B.J.: „Development of taste perception in humans: sensitivity and preferencethroughout the life span“. Psychological Bulletin (1981), Vol. 90, No. 1 : 43-73.

Desor J.A., Maller O. and Greene L.S.: „Preference for sweet in humans: infants,children and adults“. In J.M. Weiffenbach (Ed.): „Taste and Development: The genesisof sweet preference“. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office (1977).

Dunker K.: „Experimental modification of children’s food preferences through socialsuggestions“. J. of Abnormal & Social Psychology (1938), 33 : 489-507.

Harper L.V. and Sanders K.M.: „The effect of adults’ eating on young children’sacceptance of unfamiliar foods“. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology (1975), 20 :206-214.

Köster E.P.: „The importance of stimulus complexity in the analysis of sensorypreferences“. In: J. Adds (Ed.):„Progress in Flavor Research“.Amsterdam (1985).

Markefka M. (Hrsg.): „Handbuch der Kinheitsforschung“. Berlin (1993).

Moskowitz H.R.: „Food Concepts and Products. Just-In-Time Development.“ Trumbull,Connecticut (1994), Chap. 7: „Children versus Adults“ : 293-332.

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Nisbett R.E. and Gurwitz S.B.: „Weight, sex and the eating behavior of humannewborns“. Journal of Comparative and Psychological Psychology (1970), Vol. 73, No.2 : 245-253.

Pliner P. and Pelchat M.L.: „Similarities in food preferences between children and theirsiblings and parents“. Appetite (1986), 7 : 333-342.

Rozin P., Hammer L., Oster H., Horowitz T. and Marmora V.: „The child’s conceptionof food: Differentiation of categories of rejected substances in the 16 months to 5 yearsage range“. Appetite (1984), 7 : 141-151.

Steiner J.E.: „Facial expressions of the neonate infant indicating the hedonics of food-related chemical stimuli“. In J.M. Weiffenbach (Ed.): „taste and Development: Thegenesis of sweet preference“. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office(1977).

Stellar E., Henning S.J., Rodin J., Rozin P. and Wilson G.T.: „Nutrition behavior andthe life cycle“. Appetite (1980).

References (especially on the German market for kids)

Schmidbauer, Wolfgang: „Weniger ist manchmal mehr - Zur Psychologie desKonsumverzichts“, rororo Sachbuch 1290, 1995.Ebeling, Andreas: „Das Markenbewußtsein von Kindern und Jugendlichen“ Lit-Verlag,Hamburg 1995.Charlton, Michael, u.a.: „Das Werbeangebot für Kinder (Band 1)“, Leske + Budrich,Opladen 1995.Charlton, Michael, u.a.: „Fernsehwerbung und Kinder - Die Rezeption derFernsehwerbung (Band 2); Leske + Budrich, Opladen 1995.Deutsches Jugendinstitut (Hrsg.): „Was für Kinder - Aufwachsen in Deutschland“,Kösel-Verlag, München 1995.

Studies• Familien und Märkte; Axel Springer Verlag / Marketing, Hamburg 1996.• Kids Verbraucher Analyse 1996 (KVA); Bastei, Springer, Bauer; Berg.-Gladbach /

Hamburg.• EHAPA Verlags GmbH: „Kids: Die Entdecker im Food-Markt“. Studie über Eß-

Trink- und Markenpräferenzen und wie sie entstehen. Stuttgart (1994).• Jugend und Freizeit - Eine Bestandsaufnahme auf Basis aktueller Analysen; Prof. Dr.

Horst Opaschowski & Christian Duncker; BAT, Hamburg 1996.• Kinder, Märkte, Medien; Gruner + Jahr, Hamburg 1993.• Bravo Jugend-Marktreport: Die Jugend als Verbraucher; IP Multimedia Deutschland,

Kronberg 1995• Youth observes youth obsession (Yoyo); Lintas, Frankfurt 1994.

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