How Healthcare Information Affects the Perception of Palatability and Functionality of Foods

Abstract

  This study investigated how healthcare information affects the perception of palatability and functionality of foods. Various concentration levels of BCAA were added to commercial instant powder soup. Participants were asked to ingest each sample at home, one sample per day, to evaluate the palatability and the expected functional efficacy of each sample, and to record the intake amounts of the samples. The bitterness discrimination test and the Tokyo University Egogram test were also carried out in the laboratory. Regardless of the presence or absence of product information, the mean palatability scores tended to decline as the concentration of BCAA increased. However, there was significant positive correlation between the concentration of BCAA and the efficacy scores. As for the intake amounts of samples, there was negative correlation with the concentration of BCAA before product information was given; however, they were almost the same after product information was given. The relevance among personality traits, palatability and advertising was hypothesized. It can be suggested that consumer acceptance and attitudes towards products can change depending on the information they have about the products.