Effect of consumers’ origin on perceived sensory quality, liking and liking drivers: A cross-cultural study on European cheeses

Abstract We aim at studying consumers’ Perceived Sensory Quality (PSQ) concept. We manipulated a priori both familiarity (contrast local vs. foreign cheeses) and quality level (contrast PDO or traditional cheeses vs. their non-PDO and/or industrial counterpart). The study was run in four European countries. Thus, eight cheeses (one PDO or traditional cheese and one non-PDO cheese from each of the four European countries) were assessed by a total of 438 consumers (from 100 to 120 consumers from each region) in terms of PSQ and liking. The cheeses were also described by a trained panel. PSQ depended on both consumers’ and cheeses’ origin. The main finding is that in the three countries with P…