CONSUMER EMOTIONAL RESPONSES TO ZACAZONAPAN CHEESE AND PROBABILITY OF ACCEPTANCE DURING RIPENING

Abstract

Emotions and their measurement in consumers allow the differentiation of products and the prediction of the consumer’s choice. The objective of this study was to determine the emotions generated by cheese consumers of Zacazonapan, to distinguish cheeses with different physical, chemical and sensory characteristics, but with the same acceptability, and to estimate the maximum ripening time of the cheese by the consumption probability when the latter is equal to 50%. The hypothesis to test was that the samples of Zacazonapan cheese with physical, chemical and sensory differences, despite observed with the same acceptability can be differentiated through the emotions of the consumers, and the consumption probability decreases with the ripening. For the analysis of the physical and chemical variables, a completely randomized design was applied, for the acceptability and intensity of emotions, a design of complete randomized blocks, and an analysis of survival for the acceptance of the cheese with different ripeness. Cheeses from five dairies (A, B, C, D and E) were used to determine their pH, partial chemical composition, magnitude of difference (d’) between two pairs of cheeses, descriptive profile, acceptability, and intensity of emotions. Only cheese C was analyzed to determine its sensory shelf life. There was significant difference (p≤0.05) in the physical and chemical variables, except pH. Those cheeses with highest acceptability were A, B, C and E. Cheese A was related to the attribute of astringency, B and C with gritty quality, dryness, hardness and friability, while D and E with granularity, salt and chewy quality. Cheeses A and C with the same acceptability were differentiated through the emotions: active, kind, friendly, safe and calm. Cheeses with a ripening time longer than 78 d showed an acceptance probability less than 50%.