EXPECTATION ANALYSIS—A TOOL TO IMPROVE
QUALITY PERCEPTION AND INFLUENCE CHOICE
Defining consumer perception of quality as matching expectations
shows us how giving improved information about products can increase
perception of quality faster and more cheaply than breeding new vari-
eties. Before illustrating this idea with a couple of examples, let us first
consider the concept of expectations in relation to fresh fruit and veg-
etables.
Consumers have expectations about the performance of a product. In
the case of fruit and vegetables as with any other food products, it plays
a very important role as it may improve or degrade the perception of the
fruit or vegetable product before it is even tasted (Deliza, 1996). The
consumers’ expectations are supported by information and/or by previ-
ous experience. In the case of fresh fruit and vegetables, consumers base
their expectations to a large extent on external attributes. We will now
illustrate the concept of expectations with a study by Deliza (1996) using
passion fruit juice.
A Model to Demonstrate the Role of Expectations
Deliza (1996) constructed a hypothetical model of the role of expec-
tations (refer to Figure 9.7). A flow diagram has been used to demon-
strate the role of expectations in product selection and evaluation and
repeated purchase. As noted earlier, consumers have previous experi-
ence or information, which lead to them having prior expectations. Ex-
pectations are then created based on these prior expectations and those
created by the product itself, along with any label, package, ads, price,
and so on (and color, size, shape, etc., in the case of fresh fruit and veg-
etables). These expectations can be low, which leads to product rejec-
tion, or high, which is likely to lead to the product being chosen. The
chosen product is then tasted and the expected sensory attributes of the
product are either confirmed or disconfirmed. Confirmation leads to sat-
isfaction and most probably repeated product use. Disconfirmation can
also lead to satisfaction—known as “positive disconfirmation.” A neg-
ative confirmation of expectations can also occur, and this will proba-
bly lead to the product being rejected. Finally, the model predicts that
confirmation or disconfirmation will affect the next experience with the
product, which will then contribute to either raise or lower the con-