Four semantic differential adjective pairs measure how children evaluate the taste and overall appeal of a specific food. Items cover global valence (bad/good), liking (dislike/like), sensory taste quality (not tasty/tasty), and enjoyment (not enjoyable/enjoyable). The scale was developed for use with children and uses a shortened four-point response format to accommodate younger respondents.
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Developed by Wyllie, Baxter, and Kulczynski (2015), drawing some adjective pairs from Hota, Chumpitaz, and Cousin (2010). The four-point response format was deliberately chosen over the more typical five- or seven-point format to reduce cognitive demands on child participants. Used with Australian children: Study 1 evaluated fruit (ages not specified, n = 190) and Study 2 evaluated lollipops (n = 300). Formal validity analysis was not conducted. Alphas of .903 (Study 1) and .810 (Study 2) suggest adequate internal consistency, though Study 2's lower alpha may reflect lower coherence when evaluating an unfamiliar or ambivalently regarded food. Although designed for children, the scale's simple structure and short format may be adaptable for adult consumer taste testing contexts, though re-validation would be required.
Wyllie, J., Baxter, S., & Kulczynski, A. (2015). Healthy kids: Examining the effect of message framing and polarity on children's attitudes and behavioral intentions. Journal of Advertising, 44(2), 140-150.
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