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EMPIRICAL STUDIES RELATED TO TFQ MODEL

This dimension comprises both the sensory food quality dimension of Steenkamp, Wierenga,

and Meulenberg (198! and the taste and appearance food dimension of "runert et al# (199!#

The philosophy of hedonism argues that pleasure is the only intrinsic good and that the main

goal of the human e$istence is to ma$imi%e the pleasure# The hedonic quality dimension of food

include appearance, smell, and taste# Taste is one of the ma&or criteria for e'aluating food

products# esearchers claim that taste and pleasure are some of the most important predictors of

food choice (oininen, )*hteenm*ki, + Tuorila, 1999!#

n order to make food choice the consumer has to ha'e e$pectations about the hedonic quality

of a food product# This is so, because the hedonic quality is an e$perience aspect of food and

taste especially can only be ascertained after eating#

-$pectations can be formed on the base of a'ailable cues or information at the time of

purchase (.lson + /acoby, 190!# 2or e$ample, price, packaging, purchasing surroundings and

others are all cues that help consumers form e$pectations of taste# .r e$pectations can be based

on pre'ious e$perience 3ith the product or if the product is branded and the brand is kno3n#

The follo3ing section 3ill look at the formation of quality e$pectations in regard to the

hedonic dimension and ho3 e$pectations are related to e$perience# The presented studies look

into ho3 consumers use intrinsic and e$trinsic quality cues in order to form e$pected quality

about a food product# .ne thing is clear in the food domain that quality dimensions and applied

quality cues are idiosyncratic to the product category in'estigated#

n order to make purchase decisions, consumers ha'e to form quality e$pectations# They infer

quality through the use of cues# -$pectations influence the hedonic e'aluations of stimuli by

producing either contrast or assimilation(4ellner, Strickhouser, + Torno3, 556!# 7ontrast is the

shift in hedonic ratings of the stimulus in the direction counter to the e$pectation# ssimilation is

the shift in hedonic ratings of the stimulus in the direction of the e$pectation# epending on a

number of factors including the strength and certainty of the participant:s e$pectations and the

social pressures that are present in the e$perimental setting, the participant 3ill either e$perience

contrast or assimilation 3hen rating the quality of food#

esearchers ha'e concluded that consumers choose meat based on intrinsic e$perience and

search attributes like tenderness, leanness, &uiciness, freshness, and the anticipated taste and

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nutritional 'alue, 3hich are inferred from the 'isual appearance of a particular cut of meat

(;rystallis, 7hryssochoidis, + Scholderer, 550!# The most important factors contributing to the

3ay consumers percei'e quality at the point of purchase according to the appearance of the meat

are color, 'isible fat (Tri&p + Steenkamp, 199!, and marbling (