Screening of probiotics suitable for fermentation of grains

Data from choice experiments are analyzed using choice models. Proper modeling allows a good understanding of the consumer preferences, the identification of consumer segments and the optimization of products, and, eventually, offers opportunities for competitive advantage. However, in the analysis of choice data, products that are mixtures of ingredients have been largely overlooked. In this paper, we combine traditional choice models and traditional mixture models. We apply the resulting mixture choice models to data from a real-life experiment in which consumers made pair-wise comparisons involving seven cocktails. For the choice models, we first assume consumer homogeneity. Next, we allow for heterogeneity among individuals. Therefore, we discuss the multinomial logit model, the mixed logit model and the latent class model. For identifying segments, besides the latent class model, we explore various two-stage segmentation approaches in which forces, hierarchical Bayes estimates and Firth individual-level estimates are used as input for a cluster analysis. The results show that the mixed logit model and the latent class model describe the data better than the multinomial logit model. The optimal cocktails for the segments we identified using the various methods are not identical, but show many similarities.