"Just taste this - what do you think?".

Abstract

This paper explores how the sensory attributes of local food brands contribute to brand meaning. It is part of a wider study exploring the tangibility of brand meaning of local food brands. Through the development of a conceptual framework derived from Hirschman’s ‘layers of meaning’ (1980; 1998), research was conducted with consumers living in Dorset, UK. This study has a specific sensory focus, revealing that taste was the most dominant sense, with consumers going to some length to describe their tasting experiences. Taste may operate in a direct sensory capacity (afferent) and connect with other senses and associations in a multi-sensory (efferent) capacity. Consumers accept the notion of sensual incongruence.