Capturing food-elicited emotions: Facial decoding of children’s implicit and explicit responses to tasted samples

Sensory and consumer research increasingly aims to gain direct input from children study their eating behaviour. However, answering self-administered questionnaires can be challenging for children. In this sense, the prediction of basic emotions via facial decoding, generating quantitative observational data, could offer an alternative questionnaires. The present aimed measure children’s implicit explicit elicited by tasting, through use decoding compare them liking ratings in a case with flavoured chocolate milk samples. Children aged 9–10 participated (n = 48). Six samples based on two design experiment factors Added sugar (yes / no) Surprise flavour (peppermint liquorice/ no added flavour) were tested. software iMotions AFFDEX algorithm was used decoding. For each sample, expression measured immediately after tasting (implicit emotions). Then, asked show related feelings when they tasted (explicit emotions) rate 7-point-scale. Implicit emotion likelihoods correlated regarding factor flavour. As previous studies, measurement discriminated according negative (anger disgust) which had higher disliked liquorice). Facial only discriminating also sugar, advantage over ratings. positive joy, as well (sadness, fear, anger, disgust contempt), significant evaluation. results add literature suggesting that useful emotions. Further, enhanced discrimination liked involved age group.