Correlation between hedonic liking and facial expression measurement using dynamic affective response representation.

Area of Science:

• Sensory Science
• Consumer Behavior
• Psychology

Background:

• Consumer decision-making is heavily influenced by emotional reactions, often outweighing rational sensory evaluations.
• Cultural differences impact how consumers express emotions and use rating scales, particularly noted between Asian and Western populations.
• Limited research exists on the facial response characteristics of Asian consumers during food consumption.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between explicit liking measurements (hedonic scales) and implicit emotional measurements (facial expressions) in Asian consumers.
• To develop a model connecting hedonic liking scores with facial expression analysis during food consumption.
• To identify reliable parameters for quantifying emotional intensity and states from facial responses in sensory evaluations.

Main Methods:

• Utilized face reading technology to analyze facial expressions elicited by five types of juices.
• Employed explicit liking measurements using hedonic scales.
• Extracted several emotional intensity-based parameters, including dynamic parameters incorporating amplitude and frequency information.

Main Results:

• Established a relationship model between hedonic liking scores and facial expressions.
• Identified a strong negative correlation between negative emotions (sadness, anger, disgust) and hedonic scores.
• "Happiness" was identified as the primary positive emotion associated with high liking scores.
• Dynamic parameters, alongside maximum parameters, were found effective in representing emotional states and intensities.

Conclusions:

• Facial expression analysis provides valuable implicit emotional data complementing traditional hedonic scales in sensory evaluation.
• Specific facial parameters, particularly dynamic ones, can reliably quantify consumer emotional responses to food products.
• Understanding the link between facial expressions and liking is crucial for developing culturally relevant food products and marketing strategies.