Check‐All‐That‐Apply and Free Choice Description

Check‐All‐That‐Apply (CATA) and Free‐Choice Description (FCD) are two techniques among an armoury of rapid descriptive techniques that provide information about the sensory characteristics of products without the need for extensive training and hence are primarily suitable for use by consumers, although they can also be used by trained panellists. They are much simpler than rating scales for consumers to use and, in some circumstances, it could be argued that they provide a more appropriate description than the more rationally‐considered rating scales. This chapter provides an overview of CATA methodology and Open‐ended questioning, an example of FCD. In general, both methods give similar results to those from a formal, trained‐panel descriptive analysis and are less time‐consuming and easier to perform. Product profiles generated are less useful in strategic product optimisation studies because they are based on response counts rather than intensities. CATA employs a restricted list of attributes, whereas Open‐ended questioning may generate more descriptors than other methods, but textual data analysis is time consuming and results are said to be more variable. Both of these techniques may be used alone, as an integral part of some methods, or to supplement or complement other methods. They have been applied across a range of products. It is suggested they are most useful for early stage research, but investigations continue into their use for understanding sensory‐based consumer liking and ideal product identification. FCD is particularly useful to generate consumer sensory terms, which can be used for marketing and communication strategies. Research into CATA and FCD continues apace to improve the methodologies and extend their scope.