When drinking your favorite beverage, you’re doing a lot more than just tasting. You’re hearing the hiss of the can, feeling the beverage’s weight in your hand, and taking in the attractive design that caught your eye from across the grocery aisle.
If you’re in the beverage industry like us at Wildpack Beverage, you know that measuring these reactions is key to crafting an amazing product. But what’s the best way to start collecting this business-critical data?
A sensory test of your beverage can help you develop winning strategies to bring more eyes, ears, and lips to your products. This article will explore the requirements for sensory testing and its benefits for your brand. Plus, we’ll provide tips to get the ball rolling on crafting a product that supercharges the senses.
What Is Sensory Testing
If it sounds a bit scientific, that’s because it is. Sensory testing is a form of market research that can elevate you to the forefront of your industry, whether that’s soft drinks or alcohol. Understanding consumer experience is foundational to providing in-demand products. With sensory testing, you can gain further insight into your customer base by analyzing how your product appeals to the five senses:
- Taste
- Smell
- Touch
- Sight
- Hearing
The goals of sensory testing can be thought of as:
- Gaining perspective – While other forms of market research may offer helpful data, sensory testing can provide a wide perspective of customer experience. Get to know how people interact with your product and discover the associations they may already have with your beverages.
- Crafting consistent standards – Whether you’re introducing a new product or refining an old one, it’s important to track audience response to new formulas or packaging design changes. Before putting a product out on the market, many companies will conduct thorough sensory testing to ensure their next project is connecting with their target demographic.
- Refining your products – The honest and in-depth information gained from sensory testing can be directly applied to tweaking your current and upcoming products. From shifting label graphics to reducing carbonation, a product can be thoroughly revised and shaped through sensory testing to increase the overall product quality.
The beverage industry has always been customer-focused. With the advent and subsequent popularity of sensory testing, you now have the opportunity to provide your customers with exactly what they’re looking (and hearing, smelling, and tasting) for.
Aspects of Sensory Testing
The techniques and methods of sensory testing can apply to all five senses. The following is an in-depth consideration of various methodologies of testing relating to each sense.
Flavor Profile and Olfactory Experience
What might appear as the most straightforward aspect of beverage sensory testing is actually highly nuanced. After all, what even is flavor?
To talk about taste, we also have to talk about smell, as these senses come to inform each other. Very few people will simply be smelling your beverage, but what their nose detects when taking their first sip greatly impact their tasting experience.
To craft a sensory test and garner essential information about your beverage’s taste, consider the following:
- Blind taste tests – Testing is all about eliminating variables to collect the most accurate data. By crafting a blind taste test for your product, participants can leave their premise about sight and sound behind and focus fully on the flavor. The less than can see, the more they can offer an unbiased account of the taste.
- Descriptive profile – Learn the lexicon that customers might associate with your beverage—sharp, sweet, bubbly, sour, or more abstract descriptors like “fun” or “serious.” You might consider offering tasters a variety of words to choose from, enhancing their flavor vocabulary. Understanding what your tasters have to say could be essential for developing marketing materials or creating a more impressive product.
- Distractions and flavor inhibitors – To properly test for taste, you should create a relaxing, professional environment where tasters feel free to express their opinions. Additionally, keep flavor perception accurate by offering your panel palette cleansers and encouraging them to avoid coffee or other strong flavors before testing.
Physicality and Touch
Take a hands-on approach to sensory testing and discover what your customers are feeling when they hold your products.
Some key components to investigate in this branch of sensory testing include:
- Texture – Aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastic containers—these materials can feel quite different for consumers. Additionally, label design can add another layer of texture, offering a subtle opportunity to distinguish yourself from the competition. What if your beverage truly “felt” different?
- Size and shape – While the standard 1-ounce can is an undeniable staple, larger cans, and unique bottle shapes can make your product identifiable by touch. Perhaps you’re even testing out a new type of container?
- Ease of use – Pull tabs, twist tops, or screwable caps—how consumers open your beverage can make or break an experience. Is your beverage easy to open, resealable, or child-proof? Every detail is significant when conducting sensory testing, so find out how your audience feels about physically interacting with your products.
Remember, consistency is key. As such, avoid changing variables like temperature or moisture, as it could offset your results.
Visuals and Design
Visual design can tell the story of your product. It’s your chance to make a lasting first impression and win over your audience before they’ve even tasted your product. Visual design is a highly technical art form. The best designers use visual cues to suggest ideas to consumers and establish clear branding.
To learn more about customer reactions regarding your packaging design, consider crafting a sensory test that explores the following subjects:
- Does it taste how it looks? – The visuals should match the flavors. The audience may find a visual disconnect between what the visuals display and what the product truly tastes like. While some testers may be pleasantly surprised, others might be unhappy and feel that the packaging is misleading.
- Color scheme – Color says a lot. A black and white aluminum can mean something different than a bright green bottle. While every customer may have unique connotations around specific colors, sensory testing can help you gather the general consensus regarding your color scheme.
- Graphics and icons – Some beverage brands offer elaborate graphics, while others settle for more minimalist icons that are instantly recognizable. Find out what your graphical choices are saying to your audience, and find out how your beverage “reads” in comparison to your closet competition. Make sure you’re standing out for the right reasons.
If you’re looking for a way to provide consistent, reliable packaging for your products, consider partnering with a company that excels in labeling, sleeving, and so much more, like Wildpack. By entrusting your packaging needs to professionals, you can spend more time focusing on crafting a better product.
Auditory Features
Imagine a commercial for your favorite beverage; what does it sound like? Chances are, you’re hearing a carefully curated soundtrack of head-turning snaps and pops that bring to mind thirst-quenching flavor.
Discover how the subtle sounds of your beverage are impacting the overall beverage experience by sensory testing various auditory components like:
- Popping the top – Does the sound of cracking open a can of your beverage cause consumers to salivate? Is there a way to set your beverage apart from the competition with a signature pop, twist, or hiss?
- Pouring – Gauge your audience’s reaction to the sound of your beverage being poured into a variety of containers. A pint glass will sound different than a plastic cup. Additionally, different liquids have different sounds. What role does viscosity play in the pour?
- Fizzing – If you’re dealing with a carbonated beverage, fizz is more than a feeling; it’s a sound. The rapid formation and popping of CO2 bubbles could be an appetizing addition to participants.
Tips Conducting Sensory Testing Research
Every sensory test from survey writing to panel selection necessitates a different approach. Whether you’re doing a soft drink, energy drink, or alcoholic beverage testing, it requires diligent work to establish reliable metrics and glean actionable data.
That said, it’s best to keep in mind some universal advice. Consider the following points to maximize the potential of your sensory testing:
- Keep asking questions – While first impressions are important, early responses may not be the most accurate. Test subjects are usually aware that their answers are being recorded, and this could affect their responses, especially early into a test. Request clarification, encourage extended responses and keep asking questions to get to the heart of their sensory experience.
- Separate test subjects – Bias is an inherent risk of all research studies. A sensory test should work against potential biases from both the facilitator and those being tested. In practicality, this means keeping test subjects (and their answers) separated. One strong voice can influence the opinion of others, resulting in less-than-accurate data.
- Build toward action – Random sensory testing may provide some minor insight into your products, but to truly reap the rewards of this method, it’s best to have a clear goal in mind. Choose a path and stick to it, whether you’re refining products, addressing quality control concerns, or crafting new marketing materials. A plan of action is a cornerstone for successful soft drink, energy drink, or alcoholic beverage testing services.
Create an Eye-Catching Sensory Delight with Wildpack Beverage
There’s still plenty to explore when it comes to sensory testing your beverages, but this introduction should be enough to start you on your way to developing a superior product. Speaking of a superior product, if you’re ready to give your beverage a visual overhaul, it’s time to visit Wildpack.
We’re the premier canning and packaging partner for any business looking to design a truly memorable can. Explore our range of services, from sleeving to packaging, and discover a better way to brand beverages and reach your full potential. It all starts at Wildcat Beverage. Connect with us today.
Sources:
Scientific American. How does the way food looks or its smell influence taste?. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/experts-how-does-sight-smell-affect-taste/
Scientific American. Tricky Taste Test: Do You Taste with Your Eyes?. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tricky-taste-test-do-you-taste-with-your-eyes/
Drive Research. Benefits of Sensory Testing in Product Development. https://www.driveresearch.com/market-research-company-blog/benefits-of-sensory-testing-in-market-research/
Flavor Journal. Sensory expectations elicited by the sounds of opening the packaging and pouring a beverage. https://flavourjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13411-015-0044-y
