Influence of testing environment on consumer liking of doenjang stew

Central location test (CLT) is a more widely employed method for testing consumer acceptance in comparison to home usage test (HUT). In this study, the influence of the testing environment on the consumer liking of doenjang stew was determined. Consumer acceptance testing of doenjang stew was conducted four times, with one CLT and three HUTs. For HUTs, samples were served in different containers: 50 ml of premade doenjang stew in a plastic 95-ml disposable cup, representing CLT conducted at home; 200 ml (one serving size) of premade doenjang stew in a 500-ml plastic disposable bowl, representing restaurant “take out,” corresponded to the CLT condition performed at home; and doenjang stew meal kit including doenjang paste, vegetables, broth, and cooking recipe, representing meal-kit consumption scenario. Differences in product liking were observed according to the testing environment (p <.05). In case of appearance-related attributes (no tasting involved), consumers rated higher liking scores to doenjang stew evaluated under a meal-kit HUT situation (p <.05). When tasting was involved, consumers rated higher scores to stew samples under the CLT condition (p <.05). The salinity of doenjang stew was the same under all of the product testing environments, while the salty taste liking was rated the highest under the CLT situation (p <.05). Results of this study suggested that the testing environment affects the consumer acceptance testing results. Practical Applications: This study reported that differences in liking attributes under different testing environments, in that the highest overall liking score was rated under CLT condition, while HUT presented as “meal-kit” received highest appearance-related liking scores. Based on the results, this study suggests the consumer acceptance testing of doenjang stew using the CLT rather than the HUT considering the time and economics. This study provided an appropriate method to test the consumer liking of doenjang stew-type food products, which can be utilized in future consumer-related research.