Understanding dominance: The effect of changing the definition of dominance when using TDS with consumers

Temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) is a widely used method to assess dynamic sensory perception. While TDS has been studied more extensively with trained panels, there is growing interest in testing the method with consumers. However, little is known about how consumers interpret the notion of “dominance” to decide which attribute they should select at a given point in time. This study investigated the effect of a changing definition of dominance on TDS results. Consumers, all of who had never undertaken a TDS test before, were recruited in three separate groups where they were briefly trained on TDS where dominance was defined as either: (a) most attention-catching sensation (TDS session), (b) most intense sensation (TIS session), or (c) most changing sensation (TCS session). Results showed that TDS curves were similar between all three sessions, suggesting that consumers’ TDS results are only marginally influenced by the definition of dominance. Practical Applications: TDS is being used increasingly by consumers, for sensory research both in academia and industry. This study demonstrates to users of the TDS method that the definition of dominance is unlikely to influence results when working with consumers. Furthermore, this study illustrates the capability of TDS using consumers for the sensory evaluation of food.