Perception of milkshakes flavors through sensory channels by means of electroencephalography and galvanometry

Abstract

Due to the advances in neuroscience, the evolution and the accessibility of biometric devices, it is possible to capture physiological responses caused by external stimulus, thanks to this a different way to know the consumer has been presented in order to adapt marketing strategies and to make them as personalized as possible in a discipline called Neuromarketing. Realizing this, the aim of this research is to experimentally analyze the perception of certain sensory stimulus derived from five shake flavors (vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, gum and cookies and cream), flavors that we commonly find in the dessert and ice cream industry. We applied a semi-structured interview to find out some people who have never tasted those shake flavors, the final sample was made of 20 people. Subsequently, the 20 people were exposed to the five flavors at three different times. only with smell as the first moment, only with the sensory channel of taste and, finally, only with the sensory channel of sight. This made possible to capture brain wave activity (theta, alpha, beta and hi-beta), as well as galvanic activity, using an electroencephalogram (EEG) and a meter (GSR). The results showed that the chocolate and strawberry flavors evidenced the most changes and gender differences, likewise, the smell channel is the one that has the greatest impact on the way flavors are perceived.