THE INFLUENCE OF THE APPEARANCE OF FOOD PRODUCTS ON CONSUMER PERCEPTION

The color and appearance of food products are sensory properties, on the basis of which consumers accept, buy and consume, but they are also the main indicators of quality. From the consumer's point of view, product characteristics can be subjective. They are very important to the overall understanding of food consumption, along with other characteristics such as aroma, taste and texture. For the overall acceptability of food products, definition of quality and precise definition of selected sensory properties, detailed sensory analyzes are carried out. Regarding the acceptability and seasonal characteristics of the product, the survey is one of the ways of obtaining information about pre-food products from consumers. Getting acquainted with the perception of sensory characteristics by the human sense of sight, researching the influence of the color and appearance of food products and obtaining information from consumers through a survey is the goal of this work. The survey is a market affective test to examine the opinions of consumers. In this regard, the survey can cover a large number of consumers, specific target groups for a specific type or group of products. The research was conducted through a survey that contained 12 questions, divided into three groups of four questions each. The first group refers to general questions about the color and appearance of food products, the second group refers to the association of color with taste, intensity of taste, smell, and the third group refers to the association of appearance with smell, taste, and choice based on previous experiences and texture. By processing the data from the received survey responses, it can be concluded that the color and appearance of food products affect the likeability, acceptance, purchase, sensory and psychological reactions of consumers.