Discovering a new methodology: Senso’flash
Nicolas Seince, Research Executive, Techni’sens, France
I was at home browsing the internet, I was finding many interesting topics like new recipes, new songs,… but one new sensory methodology intrigued me: Senso’Flash.
As a research executive, I needed to get some information on this method and I did, during the Poster session at Eurosense 2020.
Senso’Flash is an alternative, faster sensory analysis method, making it possible to reliably collect the sensory characteristics of a product with consumers. It enables to obtain similar data to the data that we can have with expert profiles!
Everyone know that collecting sensory properties is a key step throughout the whole life of a product. Companies generally use panels of experts to produce these sensory profiles. Studies, which require a rather heavy implementation. Then, it is why it is so important to develop alternative methods to gain time and maintain reliability of the results because the product development is faster than before. Today you can find many alternatives methods to QDA such as Projective Mapping (PM), Polarized Sensory Positioning (PSP), Sorting, …
How is Senso’flash different from other alternatives?
Their hypothesis is that “We are all experts to evaluate some products on some dimensions” and the key is by using a CATA-RATA approach based on consumer experience and expert vocabulary. Indeed, consumers only rate a descriptor if they feel comfortable enough to do so.
In comparison to classic QDA?
Profiles are very similar between the two profiles. Indeed, in their study only three over 20 descriptors were slightly different between QDA and Senso’flash approaches, one descriptors was related to skin results and could be linked to skin type variability among consumers.
This new methodology has been tested among three types of products: Face cream, Chocolate and processed cheese. The results were quite similar for all the products. It is amazing to see that a new method could be used not only for cosmetic or only for food.
What are the limits?
Right now they say that naïve consumers did not have a lot of products to test to avoid sensory bursting. Then it could be interesting to change the number of products evaluated by the consumers and also try with products with small differences. This could help to frame the scope of Senso’Flash.
I hope that this method intrigue you as well and I can’t wait to see the next steps and see the evaluation of this new methodology.
Written by: Nicolas Seince
Email me at: nicolaseince@gmail.com
Or contact me via LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolas-seince/