Concept Research in Food Product Design and Development

Concepts are critical for the development and marketing of products and services. They constitute the blueprint for these products and services, albeit at the level of consumers rather than at the technical level. A good product concept can help make the product a success by guiding developers and advertising in the right direction. Yet, there is a dearth of both practical and scientific information about how to create and evaluate concepts. There has been little or no focus on establishing knowledge bases for concepts. Concept development is too often relegated to the so-called “fuzzy front end.”

Concept Research in Food Product Design and Development remedies this inattention to product concepts by providing a unique treatment of concepts for the business professional as well as for research scientists. The book begins with simple principles of concepts, moves forward to methods for testing concepts, and then on to more substantive areas such as establishing validity, testing internationally and with children, creating databases, and selling in new methods for concept testing. The book combines a “how to” business book with a detailed treatment of the different facets of concept research. As such, the book represents a unique contribution to business applications in food, and consumer research methods. The book is positioned specifically for foods, to maintain a focus on a coherent set of topics.

Concept Research in Food Product Design and Development appeals to a wide variety of audiences: R&D, marketing, sensory analysts, and universities alike. Corporate R&D professionals will learn how to create strong concepts. Marketers will recognize how concepts are at the heart of their business. Sensory analysts will find the book a natural extension of their interest in product features. University students will understand how concept research is a critical part of the “consumer-connection.” Concept Research in Food Product Design and Development is the definitive, innovative text in describing how to create, analyze, and capitalize upon new product concepts.

Howard R. Moskowitz, Ph.D. is president and CEO of Moskowitz Jacobs Inc., White Plains, NY, a firm he founded in 1981. Moskowitz is a well-known experimental psychologist in the field of psychophysics (the study of perception and its relation to physical stimuli), and an inventor of world-class market research technology. Among his important contributions to market research is his 1975 introduction of psychophysical scaling and product optimization for consumer product development. A Fellow of the Institute of Food Technologists and member of numerous other professional societies, he has written/edited twelve books, published well over 250 articles, and serves on the editorial board of major journals. With colleague E.P. Koster, Moskowitz co-founded the journal Chemical Senses and Flavor, now called Chemical Senses, the leading journal in the field.

Sebastiano Porretta, Ph.D. is a senior researcher of the Italian Ministry of Industry at the Experimental Station for the Food Preservation Industry in Parma, Italy. He is well known for his research devoted to the study of the quality, and particularly the development of techniques, for a more accurate quality evaluation considering the relationships between the physico-chemical and sensory properties of food. He contributes to the Sensory and Consumer Evaluation of Food and Food Market with original approaches: the interactions between foods and the consumers. Great work was done to evaluate the effect of ingredients on food quality and consumer acceptability.
Currently, Porretta's Professor of Food Processing at the Catholic University of Piacenza, Professor of Sensory and Consumer Science at the University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo, and President of the Italian Association of Food Technology (AITA), since 1997. Additionally, Porretta is the Author/Editor of sixteen books and papers in scientific journals and a member of several boards of international peer reviewed journals.

Matthias Silcher, M.A. is assistant project director at Moskowitz Jacobs Inc. and has a background in empirical communication research, sociology and political science from the University of Berlin, Germany. His thesis, Survey by Short Messaging Service was the first academic paper on this subject. He has consulted for Kienbaum Consultants and advised as a political researcher for NFO Infratest.