|
Sensogram 24: Sensory Limits to Market Penetration
When the conversation gets around to soft drinks, it is not unusual to hear someone say, "I can't stand the taste of diet drinks, I'll only drink regular soft drinks". Others, however, appear to be satisfied with the taste of diet drinks. Does this disparity have a genuine, sensory basis? Or is it `just talk'? SensoMetrics decided to put it to the test.
We very carefully recruited two cells of respondents, both of whom were regular users of Coca-Cola: (1) Diet Rejectors - those who drank Regular Coke but claimed to reject Diet Coke on taste alone; and (2), Diet Acceptors - those who claimed they were satisfied with Diet Coke and liked it just as much as Regular Coke. We tested the taste perceptions of these respondents rigorously, in replicated blind testing.
The outcome is shown above. Yes, there was a marked difference between the two groups ... and it was in line with the respondents' claims.
Those who claimed to reject Diet Coke on taste alone (Diet Rejectors) liked Regular Coke and did, in fact, reject Diet Coke. The Diet Acceptors, on the other hand, found both drinks to be satisfactory. Scoring on other sensory attributes revealed that the Diet Rejectors detected an unpleasant aftertaste and off-flavour in Diet Coke which the Diet Acceptors apparently did not perceive. Judging from our results, the proportion of cola drinkers who are Diet Rejectors could be as high as 25%.
Of course, not all cola users conform to this `acceptor/rejector' user classification; the two cells in this study were deliberately selected from opposite ends of the taste spectrum. There are many other users (perhaps the largest segment) who, while discerning a taste difference between Diet and Regular, still find Diet acceptable.
But the message of this carefully controlled study is clear: regardless of marketing support, there are real sensory limits to the market penetration of diet drinks. These are limits imposed by individual difference in taste physiology, not by attitudinal barriers.
Other product categories will also be susceptible to this effect. It is most likely to occur whenever a product is reformulated to incorporate `new' compounds - new sweeteners, fat replacers, thickeners, preservatives, etc. It can only be quantified by careful sensory research.
|
|