Development of emotion lexicons to describe chocolate using the Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) methodology across Asian and Western groups

Abstract

Emotion-based terms selected by Asians and Westerners were analyzed to develop lexicons associated with chocolate consumption. Hence, an online-based questionnaire (Study 1: N = 206; 51% Asians, 49% Westerners) and a chocolate (milk and dark) tasting session (Study 2: N = 75; 52% Asians, 48% westerners) were conducted to assess emotion terms related to chocolate consumption using Check-All-That-Apply methodology. Emotional satisfaction was the main reason for chocolate consumption. Furthermore, selection of emotional terms was different between cultures and gender. For both studies (1 and 2), flavor of chocolate was the most important factor that determined purchase intention. For Study 2, milk and dark chocolate evoked different emotion terms for participants. The lexicon developed for milk chocolate had similar emotion terms compared to the Study 1 lexicon (online). Developing an emotion lexicon using an online survey could provide a reduced lexicon compared to lexicons generated during the tasting session and can be used as a fast-screening method to develop simplified emotion lexicons due to its similarity to the tasting lexicon. Newly developed lexicons from this study can be applied to sensory consumer tests of chocolate.

Keywords: Chocolate; Cultures; Emotion lexicon; Online survey; Sensory evaluation.