Understanding consumer preferences for rice wines using sensory data

Abstract BACKGROUND: To understand which sensory attributes drive consumers' preference for certain products, sensory attributes and consumer's preference scoring were related using preference mapping techniques. The objectives of this study were to understand the sensory attributes that drive consumer preference for rice wine products and to investigate the presence of the sub‐groups with different preference patterns according to sensory properties of rice wines. RESULTS: Descriptive analysis and consumer preference testing were conducted with ten commercial rice wines. The rice wines were primarily separated between the ones with high intensities of ‘ripe‐fruit’, ‘sweet‐grain’, and ‘fruit taste’, and those high in ‘yeasty’, ‘bitter’, and ‘astringent’ from the principal component analysis (PCA) of the descriptive data. Based on consumer preferences, three consumer groups were identified by cluster analysis. The rice wines with higher sweetness, and medicinal herb or fruit aromas were preferred by 43% of consumers (cluster 1). Cluster 2 (28%) preferred rice wine with intense fruit‐related attributes such as ‘ripe‐fruit’, ‘sweet‐grain’, and ‘fruit‐taste’, whereas cluster 3 (29%) favoured wine with an intense medicinal herb aroma, but lower astringency and bitter taste. CONCLUSION: Differing needs of consumers based on sensory properties can be applied in the production of rice wine by adjusting their ingredients and brewing practices. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry