Predicting and Understanding Long-Term Consumer Liking of Standard Versus Novel Chocolate: A Repeated Exposure Study

Repeated exposure was investigated for predicting long-term liking of five chocolates products; three novel products, added cinnamon/cardamom, commercial beet flavor or a homemade beet-flavor and two existing products: 70% chocolate and chocolate added liquorice. Ninety-five Danish consumers were exposed daily to one of the five chocolate types during a two-week period, interrupted twice with exposure to odd samples (day 3 and 10). Liking, arousal and complexity were rated. Arousal and perceived complexity ratings for the chocolates with added Liquorice and cinnamon/cardamom dropped significantly during the exposures, but in both cases was followed by an increase towards the end of the study resulting in the recording of no significant difference between pre and post test. None of the groups showed any significant changes in pre-post exposure liking. Ratings of arousal and complexity did not provide further understanding of the mechanisms affecting long-term liking. Practical Applications The high failure rate of newly developed food products is continuingly a huge issue in the food industry. Product launches failing to meet long-term consumer liking, can often imply major losses related to development, production, distribution and marketing. The present study investigated the relevance of a repeated exposure test design, when predicting long-term liking of five chocolate products. Perceived complexity and arousal were also measured, aiming at providing further insight into the recorded liking. No pre-post exposure changes were found for liking, perceived arousal and complexity, thus a repeated exposure test design was not found relevant to predict long-term liking of chocolates. The stable liking responses observed in the present study is suggested to be related to the rewarding properties of the chocolate. The extra costs, associated with a repeated exposure test, may however still be feasible, when predicting long-term liking of other food products with the potential risk of failure.