Sensory product research with a children's/teen panel
15 July 2024
Sensory product research with a children's/teen panel
Conducting thorough sensory research is essential for food companies and retailers. As a manufacturer, you sometimes have to deal with products that are also suitable for children and/or teenagers. With a panel consisting solely of adults, you gain insight into how the product is assessed sensorily and where there may be room for improvement, but you lack the opinion of children and/or teenagers. Sensory product research with a children's/teen panel can add value to your product.
Sensory testing
Sensory testing with an adult panel generally yields somewhat reserved scores, while children and teenagers tend to be more outspoken about a product. They either like a product or they don't, and this is reflected in their assessment.
Normec Sensory regularly organises children's and teenagers' days to gain insight into the opinions of these young consumers. These groups can be used for both special customer days and standard sensory product tests. In the standard sensory product tests, several products from different suppliers are assessed by this group.
Children's panel: 6 to 12 years old
For the children's panel, we work with children aged 6 to 12 years. We work with children aged 6 and above because they are able to form their own opinions and understand the questionnaires themselves (with a little help from the panel leader here and there). This means that they are not influenced by a parent when assessing the product. To make the questionnaire more understandable for this group, we use smileys in the questionnaire. We also take into account the type of questions we ask this group. In this group, they can indicate whether they like the appearance, but more in-depth questions are more difficult to ask.
Teen panel: 13 to 17 years old
The teen panel consists of young people aged 13 to 17. This group may participate in testing independently with the consent of their parents/guardians. Within this group, more in-depth questions can of course also be included. This group can also be combined with the adult panel for concept/product testing where young people are also part of the target market.
We help you every step of the way
You want to offer your customers the best product. We are happy to help you set up, conduct and analyse sensory research. Normec Sensory has been conducting consumer and sensory research for companies in the food and non-food sectors for over 30 years. Together, we will find the best product for your customer.