Measuring the drinking experience of beer in real context situations. The impact of affects, senses, and cognition

Product experience is shaped by the interaction between the human systems and the product. Human systems include a sensory system to perceive the surrounding world, an affective system that evokes emotional responses to certain stimuli, and a cognitive system that makes meaning and processes information. We hypothesise that experience is a combination between these three systems rather than a linear continuum of hedonic reactions. In order to test this hypothesis, we conducted a study measuring the experience of drinking craft and industrial beers. A total of 400 consumers were invited to drink beer, rate their liking and select a set of phrases that better described their drinking experience. Results showed no significant difference in expected liking and purchase intention between the eight beers evaluated. However, a difference between beers was observed for the CATA phrases. Cognitive phrases were more frequently checked for craft beers, while sensory, and affective phrases were more frequently checked for industrial beers. A Multiple Factor Analysis for Contingency Tables showed that the sensory and cognitive systems were more related to liking than the affective system.