Development and evaluation of a culture-specific lexicon for measuring food-elicited emotions in languages other than english: a case study of a questionnaire developed in the Greek language

Questionnaires for self-report of food-elicited emotions are an established method; however, most tools are originally developed in English and translated into other languages. This practice entails implications due to linguistic and cultural differences in emotional expression. The aim of this study was to utilize and extend standard methodologies for self-report of food-elicited emotions in English to develop the first tool in Greek, which acts as a case study for method development in other languages in the future. This study introduces a novel approach to emotion term selection in food research by analyzing public online content, offering an alternative to conventional consumer-based methods. The methodology applied comprised standard linguistic sources (e.g., dictionaries) and input from consumers (via questionnaires) and was significantly extended by using the World Wide Web and social media platforms for the collection of authentic language and usage data based on culture. The method was validated by application in case studies on various food categories. It is necessary to develop tools that take into account the linguistic and cultural context of intended consumer, as they convey their emotions naturally and more accurately. • Social media and the Web provide terms based on synchronous and authentic data. • Feedback from consumers is necessary to ensure lexicon appropriateness for the task. • Language-specific measurement tools are more participant-friendly than translations. • Thesauri, as a starting point for emotion term collection, provide great variety.