Do you ever wonder why certain products appeal to you? Why do you decide to buy some products and not others? Are you starting your own business and want to replicate the same reactions? Well look no further because everything you’re looking for is in your body. More specifically, your five senses. Know that before products hit the store shelves, they undergo a process called sensory test to see how they will appeal to the masses. So what is a sensory test all about exactly?
DEFINITION
To formally introduce the concept, let’s grasp one of its meanings. In other words, a sensory test is all about assessing and evaluating how a product will be perceived by the customer. It takes into consideration the five senses. It is considered as a scientific discipline because it measures and analyses the testers’ reactions to foods, drinks, and other products. With the data collected, they will know the consumers’ opinion, and whether or not the product will sell or fail. Another purpose of this test is that businesses want to conduct this process to learn what to improve and what to do to upgrade in a product. The last one may be to solve any problems such as an awful smell or other characteristics of the product, immediately before its release date.
TYPES
Also known as sensory evaluation, it is not as simple as just getting the testers’ reactions and that’s it. There are a lot of items to test that are different from one another. That is why you need various types of tests to get an accurate result.
The first type is called the “descriptive test”. At this stage, we check if the product and its content match what it’s offering, like waterproof make-up or sweet but healthy candies. The next phase is the “sensory test”, where we will check the customers’ emotions towards that particular product. The last type of test is the “perception test” or “hedonic test”, which is a much more complicated one. It considers the tester’s psychological and biochemical elements.
METHODS OF MEASURING DATA
Other than the three major ones, there are also other methods to score and convert the data into a numerical or literal expression for businesses. One of them is the “discrimination or difference test”. In here, there are two products that are being compared and we can see their dissimilarities. Another one is the “paired comparison test” for the evaluation of pairs of products. On the other hand, the “triangle test” assesses the characteristics of three products and see which one stands out.
The next one on the list is the “classification test”, where a given trait describes a stimulus. For example, a characteristic to analyze could be how effective the item is. One of them is the Hedonic Scale where emojis represent the feelings of the tester. On the other hand, scaling tests use numerical values. Grading is used when a variety of products are graded through its similar characteristics. The ranking test is where the products will be ranked from the first to the last place. There is even a duo-trio test. This is all about testing and evaluating if the sampled product has a sensory difference or not.
Another method is the “descriptive analysis”, provides a quantitative description of the items’ traits that are perceived through the senses in different situations.
The last one is the “acceptance/preference test”. Basically, this analyzes each consumer’s preferences to see whether he likes the product or not. Besides, the tester’s assessment of a product will be affected by the comparison between two or more products.
HOW DO SENSORY TESTS WORK?
How you react and assess a product is based on you feel, see, smell, taste, and hear about it. For this example of a process, the product that we will use is food.
For the sense of sight, look at a meal presented in front of you. Look at the colors and if it is appetizing to you. Also, see if you can guess the shape and the ingredients visible. If it’s a portion of solid food, check the sounds it can make, such as crunching. This last part of the test is more likely to be done with chips and cereals.
Next is the sense of smell. Inhale its aroma and log it down. List if you sense a smell of ingredients.
Finally, it’s time to taste the food and feel its texture. Is it smooth and creamy? Is it dry but crispy?
If you’re going to test another food, chug down water to remove the taste of the previous one. Also, it should be the same size, and without a label to increase the reliability of the results. You may also use the different methods listed above. Besides, you should have at least six testers for higher accuracy.
LANDPROOF – THE BEST SENSORY TEST SUPPLIER FOR COSMETICS
Now, sensory evaluation is not all about food. The same assessments can be made for make-up! And one of the leading companies doing so is Landproof.
Let us share some background info about this Chinese company. Landproof owns a third-party testing laboratory for cosmetic safety and efficacy. With that, they can offer several testing services, including the following ones:
Human Skin Patch Test – It is all using patches to test if the tester’s body or face has any allergic reactions to make-up. For make-up lovers, Landproof has also several types of Make-Up Product Efficacy Evaluation. It has a “lasting test” and “covering test” to see how much coverage a certain product should have and how long it should be applied on the skin. A “water resistance test” is also available to check if the cosmetic is waterproof.
Oral Care Product Efficacy Evaluation – As its name says, this test checks the validity and performance of oral care products. It can include the “dental plaque test”. Basically, this test limits or controls how dental plaque spreads in the mouth.
Skin Antiaging Test – For anti-aging, they have the “skin anti-wrinkle test”, and other tests to examine the firming, elasticity, and smoothing of skin anti-aging products. This test provides a solution to rewind the wrinkles and improve aged skin.
CONCLUSIONS
What’s good about Landproof is that they rely on suppliers of cruelty-free and high-quality materials that won’t cause any discomfort to your skin.
The sensory test is extremely useful for businesses. Just remember to be accurate and honest with the results, and such evaluations will be successful.
