Electrodermal response and its relationship with explicit response in controlled and real contexts: A case study with different beer styles

The aim of the present study was to determine if the electrodermal activity (EDA) associated with the drinking experience of different beer samples could be related to consumers' self-reported response (liking, emotional valence, and arousal) in two contexts: a sensory lab and a restaurant. A total of 129 consumers participated in the study; after answering an online survey about expectations, 64 of them tasted the beers in the controlled context, and the other 65 in a real context. Results of the explicit response showed significant differences among beers, being context a significant factor: liking and emotional valence scores were higher in the real context. Of all the data collected in the EDA, only the Skin Conductance Level was able to discriminate among samples, showing a negative correlation with explicit liking and valence. Further research is needed to increase knowledge on the utility of EDA signals for the sensory analysis field. Practical Applications The use of implicit measurements to increase understanding of consumer responses is currently being promoted by different technology developers and scientific disciplines, but much is still unknown about how to implement sensory analysis studies using the implicit response devices and how to properly exploit the obtained data. The present manuscript shows the comparison of the implicit and explicit consumer responses acquired in two different contexts (real-a restaurant and controlled-a sensory lab), using beer as an example product. The detail on the experimental design, as well as the obtained results, will be useful for those researchers working on the development of new sensory analysis techniques. In addition, the analysis of consumers' response to the samples assessment will be useful for the beer industry, because of showing how is the perception of different beer styles by the Spanish population.