Korean consumers’ acceptability of commercial food products and usage of the 9‐point hedonic scale

Abstract In this study, 32 food samples evaluated previously with the 9‐point hedonic scale were examined to determine: (a) Korean consumers’ acceptability of commercial food products; (b) differences in liking score and its distribution among the samples; and (c) the use of the 9‐point hedonic scale by Korean consumers. The results show the existence of hedonic asymmetry and central tendency, but not much evidence of avoiding extreme categories. Cluster analysis was utilized to group food products based on consumers’ 9‐point hedonic scale distribution and four clusters were found to show positive asymmetry, negative asymmetry, central tendency, or consumers’ opinion showing no trend. Practical applications Many consumer testing methods are used to evaluate consumer acceptability of food products and the 9‐point hedonic scale is the most frequently used scale. Many studies refer to the limitations of 9‐point hedonic scale and this problem can appear to be more severe in the case of Asian consumers. Because of the lack of consumer studies about scale usage, it is important to study how consumers use the 9‐point hedonic scale. This research is beneficial because we analyzed how Korean consumers use the 9‐point hedonic scale. Through this study, some previously reported tendencies, such as hedonic asymmetry and central tendency, were confirmed but the limitations regarding avoidance of extreme categories and negative responses by Asian consumers were not found for urban Korean consumers using the 9‐point hedonic scale. In the future, comparison with other groups in Korea and a cross‐cultural consumer study about scale usage to compare Korean consumers and those from other Asian countries would be helpful.