An analysis of consumer perception, emotional responses, and beliefs about mead

Abstract Mead is an ancient alcoholic beverage that lacks a large market share in Canada. This study aimed to identify consumer perception of mead, which sensory properties lead to liking and disliking of mead, and how participants would consume mead in their everyday lives. A sub-objective was to evaluate the use of a written scenario on consumers' liking and emotional response to mead. Alcoholic beverage consumers (n = 122) were recruited to evaluate six commercial mead samples. Initially, consumers completed a word association task about mead. Then, the participants were split into two groups; one group evaluated the samples after writing a consumption scenario, and the other without a scenario. The participants evaluated the samples using hedonic scales and check-all-that-apply questions (sensory properties and emotional responses). Findings showed that mead was associated with historical references and honey, as well as different sensory properties and other alcoholic beverages (beer, wine, and cider). Consumers preferred meads with higher alcoholic content, and meads that they perceived to be sweet and have floral and apple flavours. The use of the written scenario increased hedonic scores for flavour, appearance, and overall liking, as well as their selection of positive emotions when evaluating the mead samples. This study identified consumers prefer meads that are sweet and have a higher alcohol content.