Howard R. Moskowitz

Concepts are critical for the development and marketing of products and services. They constitute the blueprint for these products and services, albeit at the level of consumers rather than at the technical level. A good product concept can help make the product a success by guiding developers and advertising in the right direction. Yet, there is a dearth of both practical and scientific information about how to create and evaluate concepts. There has been little or no focus on establishing knowledge bases for concepts. Concept development is too often relegated to the so-called “fuzzy front end.” Concept Research in Food Product Design and Development remedies this inattention to product concepts by providing a unique treatment of concepts for the business professional as well as for research scientists. The book begins with simple principles of concepts, moves forward to methods for testing concepts, and then on to more substantive areas such as establishing validity, testing internationally and with children, creating databases, and selling in new methods for concept testing. The book combines a “how to” business book with a detailed treatment of the different facets of concept research. As such, the book represents a unique contribution to business applications in food, and consumer research methods. The book is positioned specifically for foods, to maintain a focus on a coherent set of topics. Concept Research in Food Product Design and Development appeals to a wide variety of audiences: R&D, marketing, sensory analysts, and universities alike. Corporate R&D professionals will learn how to create strong concepts. Marketers will recognize how concepts are at the heart of their business. Sensory analysts will find the book a natural extension of their interest in product features. University students will understand how concept research is a critical part of the “consumer-connection.” Concept Research in Food Product Design and Development is the definitive, innovative text in describing how to create, analyze, and capitalize upon new product concepts.

During the past thirty years, companies have recognized the consumer as the key driver for business and product success. This recognition has, in turn, generated its own drivers: sensory analysis and marketing research, leading first to a culture promoting the expert and then evolving into the systematic acquisition of consumer-relevant information to build businesses. Sensory and Consumer Research in Food Product Design and Development is the first book to present, from the business viewpoint, the critical issues faced by business leaders from both the research development and business development perspective. This popular volume, now in an updated and expanded second edition, presents a unique perspective afforded by the author team of Moskowitz, Beckley, and Resurreccion: three leading practitioners in the field who each possess both academic and business acumen. Newcomers to the field will be introduced to systematic experimentation at the very early stages, to newly emerging methods for data acquisition/knowledge development, and to points of view employed by successful food and beverage companies. The advanced reader will find new ideas, backed up by illustrative case histories, to provide another perspective on commonly encountered problems and their practical solutions. This book is aimed at professionals in all sectors of the food and beverage industry. Sensory and Consumer Research in Food Product Design and Development is especially important for those business and research professionals involved in the early stages of product development, where business opportunity is often the greatest.

The authors skillfully present different approaches to the same problem and even different ways to look at the same type of data. If you have ever been stumped by a controversy in product assessment, the design of studies, or the analysis of data, you will find the answer in this book.

This book extends the analysis of perception of food qualities to the area of multivariate methods. It presents the field of sensory analysis and gives the reader first-hand descriptions of research approaches and applications.

Food Texture is the first book to provide a broad overview of texture measurementfrom both the subjective (consumer) and objective (instrument) points of viewand to highlight the relation between objective measures and sensory perceptions. The book's logical presentation opens with coverage of rheology and microstructureanalysis, proceeds to psychophysics, and then moves on to product testing and optimization. Featuring contributions by many of the foremost authorities in the field, Food Textureincludes detailed case histories that offer insight on specific basic and applied researchproblems. It also comprehensively covers the latest methods for subjective evaluationof texture, texture physics and psychophysics, and texture optimization-giving a treatmentof subjective measurement that is available nowhere else in the literature in such aconvenient form. Comprising the most authoritative account of its topic to date, Food Texture will provean invaluable reference for food scientists and technologists, chemists, biochemists,organic and analytical chemists, nutritionists, and microbiologists concerned with sensoryevaluation; graduate students of food science and food engineering; and in-house trainingprograms and professional seminars.