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1. Introduction
Branding, packaging, labeling and other product-related information are important factors in decision-making processes involving foods, especially because most of them are packaged, which prevents consumers from assessing the product’s intrinsic attributes before purchase (Krishna and Elder, 2021; Blackmore et al., 2021). The intrinsic attributes regard characteristics that are physically attached to the product itself (e.g. the smell of a piece of cheese or the flavor of a wine), associated to its physical and chemical attributes (Artêncio et al., 2023). Hence, the first interaction consumers have with a food probably starts with its extrinsic information, which consists of cues that are not part of the product’s chemosensory features, but a result of marketing strategies to indicate and communicate them (e.g. brand name, place of origin, environmental or health certifications) (Weinrich and Spiller, 2016). Past research has showed that extrinsic information (referred to as extrinsic cues) is a powerful element in shaping consumers’ expectations and perception (Piqueras-Fiszman and Spence, 2014).
Intrinsic cues such as taste, aroma and mouthfeel (e.g. fullness, flavor fading, presence of off-flavors) are considered important characteristics of specialty beverages, such as wine, coffee, tea and beer (Blackmore et al., 2021). In the case of craft beer, intrinsic cues like taste, hoppiness, bitterness, aroma, foam height, style and temperature have a significant effect on the desire for and choice of beer (Donadini et al., 2016; Gonzalez Viejo et al., 2019; Betancur et al., 2020). Extrinsic cues such as the brand, price, bottle/can design and label or packaging of beer are used to convey such characteristics and shape consumers’ sensory/hedonic expectations, which in turn mediated the effects of other cues on sensory and the hedonic perception of beer (Blackmore et al., 2021). For example, studies evidenced that different associations are made when beer is presented in a blind vs a packaging condition (Thong et al., 2018; Blackmore et al., 2021). Prior research has found that even mere change of label color can lead to a change in the rated intensity of flavor notes in beer (Barnett and Spence, 2016).
As a popular alcoholic beverage worldwide, beer is the most consumed drink by volume, which stood at approximately 177.50 million kiloliters in 2020 (Kirin Holdings Company,...