Correlating Consumer Perception and Consumer Acceptability of Traditional Doenjang in Korea

• Published in: Journal of food science Vol. 79; no. 11; pp. S2330 - S2336
• Main Authors: Kim, Mina K, Lee, Kwang‐Geun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States The Institute 01.11.2014; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Acceptability; Acceptance tests; Adult; Analysis of Variance; Color; consumer acceptance; Consumer attitudes; Consumer Behavior; consumer preferences; consumer surveys; Consumption; Data Collection; demographic statistics; Ethnic foods; Fermentation; flavor; Flavours; Food Handling; Food science; Foods; Humans; Middle Aged; multivariate analysis; Perception; Perceptions; Republic of Korea; Socioeconomic Factors; soybean paste; Surveys and Questionnaires; Taste; Taste Perception; traditional foods; Korean Peninsula; Republic of Korea; traditional foods; soybean paste; consumer acceptance
• ISSN: 0022-1147; 1750-3841
• DOI: 10.1111/1750-3841.12676

Doenjang is a traditional Korean food and is widely used for many Korean foods. Consumer perception and consumer acceptability on the typical sensory characteristics of traditional Doenjang remain unknown. The objective of the current study was to determine the consumer perception on traditional Doenjang characteristics and how preexisting consumer perception influenced the consumer liking for traditionally and commercially manufactured Doenjang. A consumer survey was conducted by presenting 26 sensory descriptions to consumers (n = 82) for check‐all‐that‐apply measurement. Then, a consumer acceptance test was conducted over 2 d on 2 Doenjang samples representing commercially produced Doenjang and traditionally produced Doenjang: Day 1 consumers evaluated without any information (n = 182), and day 2 consumers evaluated samples informed that both samples were made by the “traditional” method (n = 109). Two‐way ANOVA and multivariate analyses were conducted. Consumers’ preexisting perceptions on the typical sensory characteristics of traditionally made Doenjang were similar in that they associate “gu‐soo flavor,” “dark color,” “flavorful,” and “well‐fermented flavor” regardless of consumer demographics and Doenjang user status. However, these consumer perceptions on sensory attributes of traditional Doenjang did not agree with desirable sensory attributes for consumer liking, in that consumers preferred the commercially made Doenjang regardless of the evaluation condition and consumer user status. Findings from the current study therefore suggested a discrepancy between the preexisting current consumer perception and actual consumer acceptability of traditional Doenjang products.