Purpose This study aims to investigate how objective (chemical composition, processing method) and subjective (perceived fat content) milk characteristics influence taste perception. Design/methodology/approach A blind tasting experiment was conducted with 36 participants who evaluated six commercial milk samples (all 2.5% fat) differing in thermal processing and brand territorial coverage. Each sample was tasted twice, yielding 432 observations. Fatty acid profiles were quantified via gas chromatography. Panel regression models pooled ordinary least squares (OLS) model, fixed effects (FE), random effects (RE) were estimated to account for repeated measures and unobserved individual heterogeneity. Findings Perceived fat content consistently and significantly enhanced taste scores across all specifications (p 0.001). Ultra-pasteurization showed a marginally positive effect in the baseline model but lost significance once fatty acids were included. In the extended model, butyric acid emerged as a strong positive predictor of taste (p 0.01), while caprylic and capric acids were not significant. Notably, milk from local brands received substantially lower taste ratings than federal brands (p 0.01) after controlling for composition and individual effects. Random-effects models were preferred based on specification tests. Originality/value This study advances the literature by integrating objective chemical markers (individual fatty acids) with subjective perceptual drivers within a unified panel econometric framework. The use of blind tasting isolates sensory experience from packaging cues, revealing that butyric acid – despite its modest concentration – exerts a large influence on consumer liking. These findings offer an interesting observation for dairy producers, highlighting the complex interplay between actual composition and consumer perception.
Semenova et al. (Wed,) studied this question.