Wydawcy: Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny im

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(1)TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. 3. [32 [32]. 2012 (Decyzja nr 617/1/P-DUN/2012). Wydawcy: Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny im. K. Pułaskiego ul. Chrobrego 31, 26-600 Radom Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji – PIB ul. K. Pułaskiego 6/10, 26-600 Radom 1.

(2) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. KOMITET NAUKOWY: Prof. dr hab. inż. Żuchowski Jerzy, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu, Przewodniczący Komitetu Naukowego Prof. dr hab. Adamczyk Wacław, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie Dr hab. inż. Chochół Andrzej, prof. UE, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie Prof. dr hab. Cichoń Zofia, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie Dr hab. inż. Cierpiszewski Ryszard, prof. UEP, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Prof. dr hab. Foltynowicz Zenon, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Prof. dr hab. Jasiczak Jan, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Prof. dr hab. Kędzior Władysław, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie Prof. dr hab. Korzeniowski Andrzej, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Prof. dr hab. inż. Krzemień Eugeniusz, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu Dr hab. Lisińska-Kuśnierz Małgorzata, prof. UE, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie Prof. dr hab. Małecka Maria, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Dr hab. Marcinkowska Ewa, prof. UE, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Krakowie Prof. dr. Mitsuharu Mitsui, Hyogo University, Kobe, Japonia Dr hab. inż. Pawłowa Maria, prof. PR, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu Prof. dr hab. inż. Przybyłowski Piotr, Akademia Morska w Gdyni Prof. Pugachevsky Grygory – KNUTE, Kijów, Ukraina Dr hab. Sikorski Krzysztof, prof. PW, Politechnika Warszawska Prof. dr hab. Skrzypek Elżbieta, Uniwersytet Marii Curie-Skłodowskiej w Lublinie Prof. dr hab. Smoczyński Stefan, Uniwersytet Warmińsko-Mazurski w Olsztynie Prof. dr hab. inż. Szczerek Marian, Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji – PIB w Radomiu Dr hab. Śmiechowska Maria, prof. AM, Akademia Morska w Gdyni Prof. dr hab. Zalewski Romuald, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Prof. dr hab. inż. Zieliński Ryszard, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Redaktorzy Naczelni: Prof. dr hab. Marian Włodzimierz Sułek, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu Prof. dr hab. inż. Ryszard Zieliński, Uniwersytet Ekonomiczny w Poznaniu Redaktorzy Tematyczni: Towaroznawstwo kosmetyków i produktów chemii gospodarczej – prof. dr hab. Marian W. Sułek Towaroznawstwo opakowań – prof. dr hab. Małgorzata Lisińska-Kuśnierz Towaroznawstwo przemysłowe – prof. dr hab. Ryszard Zieliński Towaroznawstwo żywności – dr hab. Maria Śmiechowska, prof. AM Zarządzanie jakością – prof. dr hab. inż. Jerzy Żuchowski Redaktor Statystyczny: dr hab. Andrzej Sokołowski, prof. UEK Członkowie Komitetu Redakcyjnego: Dr hab. inż. Bożena Borycka, prof. PR, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu Dr hab. inż. Regina Borek-Wojciechowska, prof. PR, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu Dr Halina Garbacz, Politechnika Warszawska Dr inż. Dorota Koprowska, Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji – PIB w Radomiu Dr inż. Tomasz Wasilewski, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu Dr inż. Małgorzata Zięba, Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny w Radomiu Adres Komitetu Redakcyjnego Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny, Katedra Nauk o Jakości, ul. Chrobrego 31, 26-600 Radom, tel./fax (48) 361 75 89, (48) 361-74-82; e-mail: tpj@pr.radom.pl, www.tpj.pr.radom.pl. Publikacje można nadsyłać na adres Komitetu Redakcyjnego ISSN 1733-747X Wydawcy: Uniwersytet Technologiczno-Humanistyczny im. K. Pułaskiego, ul. Chrobrego 31, 26-600 Radom Instytut Technologii Eksploatacji – PIB, ul. K. Pułaskiego 6/10, 26-600 Radom Opracowanie wydawnicze: Joanna Iwanowska, Bożena Mazur Projekt okładki i opracowanie graficzne: Andrzej Kirsz. 2385. *. 2. Wydawnictwo ul. Malczewskiego 20A, 26-600 Radom, tel. centr. (048) 361-70-33, fax (048) 3617034 e-mail: przypis@poczta.onet.pl http://www.pr.radom.pl Wydawnictwo Naukowe Instytutu Technologii Eksploatacji – PIB ul. K. Pułaskiego 6/10, 26-600 Radom, tel. centr. (048) 364-42-41, fax (048) 3644765 e-mail: instytut@itee.radom.pl http://www.itee.radom.pl.

(3) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. Spis treści Przedmowa.............................................................................................................. 5. Non omnis moriar – Profesor UEK dr hab. inż. Marzena Ucherek...................... 9. Henryk Szymusiak: Wpływ ceny i jakości produktu na satysfakcję konsumenta z perspektywy neuromarketingu ............................................................................. 11. Radosław Wolniak: Czynniki samooceny systemu zarządzania jakością – kryterium podejścia systemowego do zarządzania .............................................. 30. Mariusz Giemza: Wpływ Małopolskiej Nagrody Jakości na organizacje – wybrane przypadki ............................................................................................... 40. Marzenna Popek: Ocena zdolności do samozagrzewania towarów niebezpiecznych klasy MHB w transporcie morskim ............................................. 49. Małgorzata Koszewska: Biodegradowalne wyroby włókniste – szanse rozwoju na rynku polskim .................................................................................................... 58. Maria Pawłowa: Determinanty jakości obuwia i odzieży ....................................... 69. Andrzej Korzeniowski, Ryszard Cierpiszewski: Funkcje opakowań jednostkowych wybranych produktów branży zbożowo-młynarskiej ...................... 80. Piotr Zapletal, Barbara Czerniejewska-Surma, Przemysław Durbas, Krzysztof Adamczyk, Kaja Bierowiec-Widórek: Ocena świeżości ryb łososiowatych dostępnych na rynku krajowym ....................................................... 85. Alina Piotraszewska-Pająk: Zmiany barwy miodów rzepakowych i wrzosowych podczas przechowywania........................................................................................ 96. Wojciech Zmudziński: Poprawa jakości wody z wykorzystaniem procesów fotokatalitycznych. Badania w układach modelowych zawierających sacharozę ................................................................................................................ 105. Informacje ............................................................................................................... 114. 3.

(4) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. Contents Preface .................................................................................................................... 7. Non omnis moriar – Professor Marzena Ucherek................................................... 9. Henryk Szymusiak: Influence of product price and quality to consumer satisfaction from neuromarketing perspective............................................................. 11. Radosław Wolniak: Factors for self-assessment quality management system – the criterion of system approach to management ................................................ 30. Mariusz Giemza: Effect of the Malopolska quality award on organizations – selected cases ....................................................................................................... 40. Marzenna Popek: Evaluation of capability to self-heating of dangerous goods class MHB in maritime transport............................................................................ 49. Małgorzata Koszewska: Biodegradable fibrous products – the development prospects in the Polish market ................................................................................ 58. Maria Pawłowa: Quality determinants of footwear and clothing .......................... 69. Andrzej Korzeniowski, Ryszard Cierpiszewski: Functions of unit packaging for selected products in the grain and milling industry .......................................... 80. Piotr Zapletal, Barbara Czerniejewska-Surma, Przemysław Durbas, Krzysztof Adamczyk, Kaja Bierowiec-Widórek: Assessment of freshness of salmonids available on the domestic market ...................................................... 85. Alina Piotraszewska-Pająk: The changes of colour of rape and heather honeys during storage......................................................................................................... 96. Wojciech Zmudziński: Improvement of water quality using photocatalytic processes. Studies in model systems containing sucrose ........................................ 105. Information ............................................................................................................. 114. 4.

(5) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. Przedmowa Zgodnie z przyjętym przez Kolegium Redakcyjne długoterminowym planem wydawniczym w ostatnich dniach września 2012 r. oddajemy do rąk Państwa – naszych czytelników trzydziesty drugi numer kwartalnika Towaroznawcze Problemy Jakości (Polish Journal of Commodity Science). Zgodnie wymogami Ministerstwa powołaliśmy zespół redaktorów tematycznych oraz redaktora statystycznego naszego czasopisma. Kontynuując próby rozszerzenia grona naszych czytelników także w bieżącym numerze zamieszczamy kilka artykułów w angielskiej wersji językowej. Tak jak poprzednio, niezależnie od języka oryginalnej publikacji, każdy artykuł zawiera obszerne streszczenie w języku polskim i angielskim. Streszczenia wszystkich prac prezentowanych na łamach kwartalnika w obydwu wersjach językowych dostępne są również na stronie internetowej naszego czasopisma pod adresem: http://www.tpj.pr.radom.pl. Jeszcze przed tegorocznymi wakacjami polskie towaroznawstwo doznało bardzo poważnej straty. W ostatnich dniach maja 2012 roku odeszła od nas pani prof. UEK dr hab. inż. Marzena Ucherek, prodziekan-elekt Wydziału Towaroznawstwa Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Krakowie. Wspomnienie o Pani Profesor przygotowała pani profesor Małgorzata Lisińska-Kuśnierz. Serię 10 artykułów obecnego wydania naszego czasopisma rozpoczyna praca Szymusiaka stanowiąca przegląd metodologii wybranych technik neuroobrazowania. Autor zwraca uwagę na duże praktyczne znaczenie technik związanych z wykorzystaniem neuroobrazowania w badaniach marketingowych oraz omawia najważniejsze osiągnięcia badawcze w tej dziedzinie opisywane w literaturze światowej. W pracy szczególnie dużo uwagi poświęcono badaniom neuromarketingowym, a zwłaszcza tym, w których empirycznie potwierdzono wpływ ceny i jakości produktu na satysfakcję konsumenta. Artykuł ten stanowi wstęp do szeregu problemów z zakresu neuromarketingu prezentowanych w najnowszej książce prof. Szymusiaka pod tytułem „Neurobiologiczne techniki stosowane w biznesie” wydanej ostatnio nakładem Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu. W kolejnej pracy Wolniak zajmuje się zagadnieniem systemowego podejście do zarządzania. Autor omówił zagadnienie czynników samooceny systemu zarządzania jakością w przedsiębiorstwie. W pracy przedstawiono wyniki badań z zastosowaniem analizy czynnikowej dotyczących elementów samooceny w zakresie realizacji zasad orientacji na klienta. Zastosowanie analizy czynnikowej pozwoliło zredukować liczbę czynników samooceny systemu zarządzania jakością do trzech czynników takich jak: identyfikacja potrzeb i pomiar satysfakcji klienta, zasoby niezbędne dla spełnienia potrzeb klienta oraz identyfikacja klientów i komunikacja potrzeb klienta wewnątrz organizacji. W następnej pracy Giemza zastanawia się, czy wyróżnienie firmy prestiżową nagrodą za jakość dotychczasowych działań wpływa na poziom funkcjonowania nagrodzonej firmy po uzyskaniu odpowiedniej nagrody. Praca ta dotyczy analizy trzech przypadków organizacji będących laureatami Małopolskiej Nagrody Jakości. Autor stwierdza, że wpływ, jaki nagroda taka ma na dalsze działania organizacji, zależy głównie od profilu prowadzonej przez tę firmę działalności. Nie stwierdzono takiego wpływu dla firm usługowych, podczas gdy nagroda taka miała wpływ na dalszy rozwój firm usługowo-produkcyjnych oraz produkcyjnych. Zagadnienie bezpieczeństwa przesyłek drogą morską stanowi przedmiot kolejnego artykułu autorstwa Popek. Dotychczas w swoich pracach zwracała uwagę na problem upłynniania surowców masowych, głównie koncentratów rud siarczkowych, podczas transportu drogą morską. Tym razem Autorka omawia zagadnienie samozagrzewania się transportowanych statkami ładunków tych surowców W pracy dokonano oceny zdolności koncentratów rud siarczkowych do samozagrzewania oraz dokonano fizykochemicznej charakterystyki procesów zachodzących w tego rodzaju ładunkach. Stwierdzono, że dobrym praktycznym wskaźni5.

(6) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. kiem opisującym podatność koncentratów rud siarczkowych do ich samozagrzewania się może być informacja o stężeniu siarki elementarnej zawartej w koncentratach siarczkowych rud metali. Zagadnienie bezpieczeństwa ekologicznego wyrobów włókienniczych stanowi treść kolejnego artykułu. Koszewska omawia w nim szanse rozwoju na polskim rynku biodegradowalnych materiałów włóknistych. Zdaniem autorki materiały te stanową praktyczną odpowiedź na rosnący problem związany z zanieczyszczeniem środowiska przez poużytkowe odpady włókiennicze. Autorka uważa, że wprowadzenie środowiskowo przyjazne biodegradowalne polimery mają w przyszłości dużą szansę na szerokie zastosowanie w polskim przemyśle tekstylno-odzieżowym. W kolejnej pracy Pawłowa przedstawia podstawowe problemy jakości ubioru jako systemu. Omówiono wybrane aspekty procesów technologicznych wytwarzania skóry i materiałów włókienniczych w kontekście relacji struktura – komfort ich użytkowania. Autorka przedstawia determinanty jakości odzieży i obuwia. Do najważniejszych z nich można zaliczyć: jakość stosowanych materiałów, innowacyjne procesy technologiczne wytwarzania, wzornictwo i rozwiązania konstrukcyjne opracowywanych nowych modeli obuwia i odzieży. Przedmiotem pracy Korzeniowskiego i Cierpiszewskiego była ocena opakowań jednostkowych dla produktów zbożowo-młynarskich w handlu detalicznym. Autorzy badali, w jakim stopniu opakowania te spełniają swoje funkcje. Ocenie poddano funkcję ochronną, informacyjną, praktyczną, marketingową i ekologiczną. Stwierdzono, że w odniesieniu do produktów zbożowo-młynarskich opakowania jednostkowe dobrze spełniają pierwsze cztery spośród tych funkcji, podczas gdy funkcja ekologiczna jest spełniona w mniejszym stopniu. Zagadnienie oceny stopnia świeżości ryb łososiowatych obecnych w handlu stanowi treść pracy Zapletala i współpracowników. Na podstawie badań przeprowadzonych w placówkach handlowych Krakowa stwierdzono, że świeżość ryb oferowanych do sprzedaży zależy od pory roku, przy czym najniższą świeżość ryb odnotowano w okresie letnim. Stwierdzono także, że najskuteczniejszymi metodami wykrywania mięsa nieświeżego są: badania organoleptyczne, ocena przesączu wodnego wyciągu z mięsa ryb oraz oznaczenie ogólnej liczby bakterii. Tematyka artykułu Pietraszewskiej-Pająk dotyczy zagadnień zmian wyróżników jakości miodów podczas przechowywania. Autorka omawia wyniki badań własnych dotyczących wpływu warunków przechowywania na barwę miodów rzepakowych i wrzosowych. Stwierdzono, że miody wrzosowe są bardziej podatne na zmiany barwy niż miody rzepakowe przechowywane w tych samych warunkach. Tematem ostatniego artykułu jest zagadnienie jakości wód odpadowych powstających w zakładach przemysłu spożywczego. Żmudziński przedstawił wyniki badań własnych dotyczących możliwości zastosowania procesów fotokatalitycznych do poprawy jakości wód na przykładzie modelowych układów ścieków zawierających sacharozę. Trzydziesty drugi numer naszego kwartalnika zamyka stała rubryka „Informacje TPJ”. Zamieszczono w niej informacje o kolejnej międzynarodowej konferencji naukowej z cyklu „Current Trends in Commodity Science” organizowanej co dwa lata przez Wydział Towaroznawstwa Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Poznaniu. Konferencja ta odbędzie się we wrześniu 2013 roku w Mikorzynie koło Konina. Życzę Państwu przyjemnej lektury. Redaktor TPJ Prof. dr hab. inż. Ryszard Zieliński. 6.

(7) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. Preface According to the long-term plan accepted by the Editorial Board, at the end of September 2012 we present to our readers the 32nd issue of the Polish Journal of Commodity Science. According to the ministry requirements we have established theme editors and the statistical editor for our journal. Continuing efforts to widen the group of our readers we present some papers in English version. As before, regardless the language of the original publication, each paper contains a wide summary in both Polish and English. The summaries of all the works published one can find on our webpage http://www.tpj.pr.radom.pl. Just before the summer holidays Polish commodity science suffered a serious loss. In the last days of May 2012 Marzena Ucherek, professor of UEK, elected deputy dean of the Faculty of Commodity Science (University of Economics in Kraków), passed away. The remembrance was prepared by prof. Małgorzata Lisińska-Kuśnierz. A series of 10 articles of the current is opened by Szymusiak’s work. It is a review of the methodology of selected neuroimaging techniques. The author pays attention to the great practical importance of techniques involving the use of neuroimaging in marketing research and discusses the most important results described in the literature. In this work special attention was paid to neuromarketing, especially to those which empirically confirmed the impact of price and product quality on customer satisfaction. The paper provides an introduction to a series of problems in the field of neuromarketing presented in the recent book by Professor Szymusiak entitled “Neurobiological techniques used in business” recently published by the University of Economics in Poznań. In the consecutive work Wolniak deals with the issue of system approach to management. The author discussed the issue of self-assessment in quality management systems. The results obtained via a factor analysis of the self-assessment of pro-client orientation were presented. Application of factor analysis helped to reduce the number of self-assessment factors of quality management system to the three factors, such as identification and measuring of customer satisfaction, the resources necessary to meet the needs of the customer as well as the customer identification and communication needs within the organization. In the next paper Giemza wonders whether prestigious business awarded to the company for the quality of previous activities affect its level of functioning. This work concerns three organizations that won the Małopolska Quality Award. The author concludes that the impact of this award depends mainly on the profile of the company activity. There was no such effect for service companies, while the prize had an impact on the further development of the manufacturing companies. The issue of security in maritime transport sea is the subject of the article by Popek. So far, she used to put attention to the problem of liquefaction of bulk commodities, mainly sulphide ore concentrates, during transport by sea. This time the author discusses the issue of self-heating of raw materials in maritime transport. The evaluation of the ability of sulphide ore concentrates to self-heating and the physico-chemical characteristics of processes occurring in such charges was made. It was found that information on concentration of elemental sulfur contained in the concentrates of sulfide ores could be a good practical indicator describing susceptibility of the sulphide ore concentrates to self-heating. The ecological safety of textiles is the subject of the next article. Koszewska discusses the opportunities for development of biodegradable fiber materials on the Polish market. In her opinion, these materials constitute a practical response to the growing problem of environmental pollution by postconsumer waste textiles. The author believes that the introduction of environmentally-friendly, biodegradable polymers have a good chance for wide application in the Polish textile and clothing industry. 7.

(8) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. In the consecutive paper Pawłowa analyzes the main systematic problems of clothing quality. Some aspects of the leather and textile production processes are discussed in the context of relationship: structure – the comfort of use. The author presents the determinants of the quality of clothing and footwear. The most important of them are: the quality of materials, innovative technological processes, design and solutions applied in development of new models of shoes and clothing. Cierpiszewski and Korzeniowski in their article assessed the individual packages for grain and milling products in retail. The authors investigated the extent to which they met their packaging functions. Protective, informative, practical, environmental and marketing functions were analyzed. It was found that packaging of grain and milling products well met the first four of these functions, while the ecological function received distinctly lower scores. The assessment of the freshness of the trade salmonids is presented in the paper by Zapletal et al. On the basis of the research carried out in Krakow retail outlets it was stated that the freshness of the fish offered for sale depended on the season – the worst was recorded during summer. It was also found that the most effective methods for the detection of bad meat were: organoleptic tests, assessment of the water filtrate extract from the meat and the indication of the total number of bacteria. Pietraszewska-Pająk focuses on changes in determinants of honey quality during storage. The author discusses the results of research on the effect of storage conditions on the color of heather and rape honey. It was found that heather honey is more susceptible to color changes than rape honey stored in the same conditions. The last article is devoted to quality of waste water generated in the food industry. Żmudzinski presented the results of research on the applicability of photocatalytic processes to improve water quality on the example of model sludge systems containing sucrose. The thirty second issue of our quarterly is closed by the column „TPJ announcements”. It contains information on periodic international conference „Current Trends in Commodity Science” organized every two years by the Faculty of Commodity Science, Poznań University of Economics. This year’s edition will take place in September, in Mikorzyn near Konin. I wish you a nice reading. Prof. dr hab. inż. Ryszard Zieliński Editor of TPJ. 8.

(9) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. Non omnis moriar Dr hab. inż. Marzena Ucherek (1967–2012) Profesor nadzwyczajny Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Krakowie Profesor Marzena Ucherek przez całe swoje życie związana była z Krakowem. Tutaj ukończyła X Liceum Ogólnokształcące im. Komisji Edukacji Narodowej, a następnie studia wyższe na kierunku Towaroznawstwo na Wydziale Ekonomiki Obrotu Akademii Ekonomicznej w Krakowie. Pracę zawodową podjęła w 1992 roku w Katedrze Opakowalnictwa Towarów na Wydziale Towaroznawstwa Akademii Ekonomicznej w Krakowie, przechodząc wszystkie szczeble kariery nauczyciela akademickiego od stanowiska asystenta po stanowisko profesora nadzwyczajnego UEK. Pracę doktorską pt. „Modele ocen opakowań do żywności” obroniła w 1997 roku. Stopień doktora habilitowanego nauk ekonomicznych w zakresie towaroznawstwa uzyskała w 2008 roku na podstawie monografii pt. „Trwałość produktów spożywczych pakowanych w modyfikowanej atmosferze”. Rok później w wyniku postępowania konkursowego uzyskała stanowisko profesora nadzwyczajnego. Wiosną 2012 roku została wybrana przez społeczność akademicką Wydziału Towaroznawstwa Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Krakowie na stanowisko prodziekana tego wydziału w kadencji 2012–2016. Profesor Marzena Ucherek pozostawiła po sobie niezwykle obszerny dorobek naukowy zgromadzony przez niespełna 20 lat pracy na Uczelni. Dorobek ten koncentruje się wokół specjalności naukowych opakowalnictwo i przechowalnictwo, w ramach dyscypliny – towaroznawstwo i dziedziny – nauki ekonomiczne. Obejmuje on łącznie 230 prac naukowych, w tym 10 publikacji książkowych (4 monografie oraz 6 podręczników akademickich). Do znaczących osiągnięć naukowych Pani Profesor należy zaliczyć przede wszystkim prace dotyczące głównie problematyki: jakości materiałów opakowaniowych i opakowań, trwałości produktów spożywczych i roli opakowań w jej kształtowaniu, znakowania towarów, ekologii opakowań, innowacyjności opakowań jednostkowych oraz roli opakowań w polityce ochrony konsumentów. Rezultaty powyższych badań były publikowane w czasopismach naukowych: zagranicznych (np. „Packaging Technology and Science”, „Italian Journal of Food Science”, „Food Reviews International”, „Italian Food Technology”, „International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology”, „Analele Universitatii din Oradea”) oraz wielu krajowych czasopismach o zasięgu ogólnopolskim (np. „Opakowanie”, „Packaging Polska”, „Marketing i Rynek”, „Przemysł Fermentacyjny i Owocowo-Warzywny”, „Problemy Jakości”, „Towaroznawcze Problemy Jakości – Polish Journal of Commodity Science”, „Bezpieczeństwo i Higiena Żywności”, „Zeszyty Naukowe AE w Krakowie”, „Zeszyty Naukowe UE w Poznaniu”). Ponadto wykonane prace prezentowała na ponad 40 konferencjach naukowych, w tym ponad 20 za granicą, m.in. w czołowych ośrodkach akademickich w Europie, Chinach i Korei Południowej. Przez cały okres pracy Profesor Marzena Ucherek prowadziła zajęcia dydaktyczne na kierunku Towaroznawstwo na wszystkich formach i stopniach kształcenia. Prowadziła także seminaria dyplomowe i doktorskie. Była promotorem ponad 150 prac inżynierskich i magisterskich. Miała również osiągnięcia w działalności na rzecz podnoszenia jakości kształcenia, będąc m.in. współautorem programów nauczania i serii podręczników akademickich do realizacji tych programów. Posiadała też znaczący dorobek w kształceniu młodej kadry naukowej. Profesor Marzena Ucherek była aktywnym członkiem szeregu polskich i międzynarodowych instytucji i organizacji naukowych, m.in. członkiem Komisji Nauk Towaroznawczych – Nauk o Jakości PAN, członkiem Polskiego Towarzystwa Towaroznawczego i rzeczoznawcą PTT w zakresie opakowalnictwa, członkiem Gruppo Scientifico Italiano di Confezionamento Alimentare – GSICA (The Italian Scientific Group of Food Packaging). Była także członkiem Komitetu Naukowego kwartalnika „Towaroznawcze Problemy Jakości 9.

(10) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. – Polish Journal of Commodity Science”, współredaktorem Biuletynu EPI (European Packaging Institute) pt. „Raports, News, Notifications” oraz recenzentem artykułów zamieszczanych w wielu renomowanych czasopismach, m.in. „Journal of Food Science oraz Food Science and Technology International”. Profesor Marzena Ucherek zaznaczyła też mocno swoją obecność w pracy organizacyjnej na rzecz Uniwersytetu Ekonomicznego w Krakowie. W uczelni tylko ostatnio była członkiem: Senackiej Komisji ds. Dydaktyki, Uczelnianej Komisji Wyborczej, Komisji Stypendialnej w ramach projektu „Doctus – Małopolski fundusz stypendialny dla doktorantów” oraz Ośrodka Międzynarodowej Współpracy Naukowej UEK. Za swą wielowątkową działalność Pani Profesor była wielokrotnie wyróżniana – była laureatem indywidualnych nagród JM Rektora UEK za osiągnięcia dydaktyczne, a także laureatem indywidualnych oraz zbiorowych nagród w dziedzinie naukowej. Otrzymała też w 2004 roku Brązowy Krzyż Zasługi. Społeczność akademicka utraciła prawego człowieka, wybitnego naukowca i dydaktyka, nauczyciela akademickiego cenionego i niezwykle lubianego przez studentów, oddanego bez reszty swojej Uczelni. Małgorzata Lisińska-Kuśnierz. 10.

(11) Henryk SZYMUSIAK Poznań University of Economics Faculty of Commodity Science Department of Technology and Instrumental Analysis. Influence of product price and quality to consumer satisfaction from neuromarketing perspective Key words: Słowa kluczowe:. brand, consumer satisfaction, neuromarketing, price, quality marka, satysfakcja konsumenta, neuromarketing, cena, jakość. 1. Introduction Customer (consumer) satisfaction, a term frequently used in marketing, is a measure of how products and services supplied by a company meet or surpass customer expectation. There is no single definition of consumer satisfaction. However, all the definitions in the literature and from consumers describe consumer satisfaction as a reasoned or emotional response to a product, service or consumer experience at a particular time. Customer satisfaction is defined as “the number of customers, or percentage of total customers, whose reported experience with a firm, its products, or its services (ratings) exceeds specified satisfaction goals” [1]. In a competitive marketplace where businesses compete for customers, customer satisfaction is seen as a key differentiator and increasingly has become a key element of business strategy [2]. In recent decades, customer satisfaction has gained new attention within the context of the paradigm shift from transactional marketing to relationship marketing [3, 4]. Customers who are satisfied with a purchased product will buy the same product again, more often [5], and will also. recommend it to others [6]. Customer satisfaction is commonly related to two fundamental properties, including the customer’s judgment of the quality of the product and his evaluation of the interaction experience he or she has made with the product provider [7]. There is an agreement in the literature that price and quality has high effect on customers satisfaction, however, there is little empirical evidence exploring this relation. Nowadays, the market environment is certainly too complex for the ordinary consumer. Already in 1985 Maynes [8] characterized most markets as informationally imperfect where there are extensive price dispersions, even when quality is constant. In such markets, consumers seem to pay too much for products. Maynes mentioned three key factors that underlie the present-day shopping environment [8]: 1. The overabundance of brands in the marketplace leads to information overload. 2. The technical complexity of many products makes quality assessment virtually impossible for the average consumer. 3. The urbanization of our society creates an environment where there are too many stores offering similar goods. The situation has got even worse as information technologies came, markets had spread, and now there is too many products available at too many stores and too little time [6]. Very little is known about the human neural mechanisms through which it affects the decisions made by individuals. Marketers have used the term 11.

(12) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. “customer satisfaction” for at least the last four decades assuming that the concept accurately captures a prime consumer motivator. Unfortunately, even satisfied customers leave the firm on a regular basis. The explanation to this puzzle is looked for inside the brain. As stated by Coy the striatum (corpus striatum) in the brain quickly gets used to new stimuli and tends to react only to the unexpected [9]. This provides a neural-based explanation why marketing experts now incline us rather to “delight” our consumers than simply satisfying them. As Martin Lindstrom clearly stated in his book “Buy-ology”, our purchase decisions are not as rational as people think, and they never have been [10]. When walking through a supermarket, customers pick products from the shelves based on thoughts and emotions of which they are largely unaware. During a few miliseconds, they are drawn to a particular brand of product without really knowing why [10]. Modern psychology proves that people very often say one thing and then they do something completely else and what is more they think otherwise. Gerald Zaltman from Harvard Business School said: “The world has changed, but our methods for understanding consumers have not.We keep relying on familiar but ineffective research techniques and consequently misread consumers' actions and thoughts. The products we create based on those techniques, simply aren't connecting with consumers” [11]. Zaltman decided in 1998 to take advantage of existing neurobiological technologies in order to check the activity of these brain parts that refer to the decision-making process. He is the person who is regarded as the founder of the first neuromarketing institute. The term neuromarketing has been coined in 2000 by Ale Smidts (Erasmus University, Rotterdam). Nowadays there are 12 or more neuromarketing institutes that are operating all over the world [12]. During last years it became essential to understand customers’ behavior and neuromarketing is a big step closer to it. Generally, the term “neuromarketing” identifies a new field of research championed by both academics and self-labeled companies using advances in neuroscience that permit powerful insights into the human brain’s responses to marketing stimuli [13]. In other words, neuromarketing studies sensors of consumer, recognition and affective response to marketing stimulus. Modern technologies are used such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure changes in activity in parts of the brain, electroencephalography (EEG) to measure activity in specific regional spectra of the brain response, and sensors to measure changes in one's physiological state (heart rate, respiratory rate, galvanic skin response) to learn why consumers make the decisions they do, and what part of the brain is telling them to do it [6]. The purpose of the present paper is to provide an overview through applying tried and tested measurement methods from modern neuroscience to marketing research and considering their advantages and disadvantages. A short introduction on current neuroimaging methods used in modern neuroscience is provided by means of a literature review. The ensuing discussion focuses on fMRI as the currently most popular neuroimaging technique. Having described the fMRI methodology, an outline of the analysis of functional neuroimaging data follows, after which there is a discussion of some key research issues with particular emphasis an empirical evidence on product price and quality influence on consumer satisfaction through neuromarketing approach. 2. A neuroscientific foundation for consumer research Over the last few years theories and models used in consumer research have changed dramatically [14]. One focus has been the role of emotions which are ubiquitous throughout marketing [15]. Still little is known about how marketing stimuli are processed by the human brain, although, conscious emotional information processing and perception have been studied extensively in consumer research. When observing the brain in vivo during information processing procedures the subconscious processes as the intuitive integration of emotions can be investigated what is the main benefit to both marketing research and practice [16]. This can 12.

(13) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. give some insight in the role of emotions as a physiological state in marketing [17]. It is worth to mention that initial approaches to measuring the response of the peripheral nervous system to marketing stimuli, such as electrodermal response or pupil dilation response measurement, were already applied in the 1970s. And their application still is useful with respect to some specific research questions [18, 19]. Methods for measuring electric brain waves have also been employed in this context and these studies have contributed substantially to consumer research by measuring the amplitudes of neurophysiologic activation [20]. However, these studies have not satisfactorily answered the question of how consumers process emotional responses to such marketing stimuli as for example brand logos due to methodological problems related to evaluating the valence (positive vs negative) of activations. Technological innovations in the field of neuroimaging appear to override the methodological problems of the former approaches [21]. For example, functional brain imaging techniques facilitate the analysis of human brain functions while the subject decides simultaneously between several different brands [22] or the attractiveness of a particular car design [23]. Through the use of neuroimaging techniques, the corresponding brain activity during experimental conditions of interest can be detected and the activated areas localized. As Kosslyn [24] stated, with the use of neuroimaging techniques, one can see the “footprints of components of the functional brain architecture that are evoked during the task”. The results from such past studies then facilitate linking a specific brain area to a possible function such as the amygdala to emotion processing, the insula to “disgust” or the striatum to “reward” [25–27]. In combination with other techniques, neuroimaging may help to solve the valence problem found in neurophysiologic activation, because there is no need to ask the people about their feelings. Brain activity corresponding to different intervening variables, such as consumer satisfaction or brand loyalty, becomes directly observable. It means that psychological constructs may be investigated by measuring their neural correlates. To date, there is no other possibility to observe influences of the effect and interplay between analytic and affective information processing as analyzing by means of the new methodologies. Deppe et al. [22] investigated the neural mechanism elicited by brands in a fictitious buying decision. In another study Deppe et al. [28] analyzed the neural correlates of a framing-effect caused by a magazine brand. These both studies provide evidence that brands can activate different “pathways” in the brain. Thus, these results confirm with the understanding of the brand loyalty-concept [29, 30] and can help in the development of new models for marketing management, for instance, regarding brand equity measurement.. 3. Brief overview of currently used neuroimaging techniques According to the underlying mechanisms measured current neuroimaging techniques can be divided into two main categories (Table 1). These categories are procedures for measuring electrical activity of the brain and those for measuring neural metabolism processes. Electromagnetic recordings Electroencephalography (EEG) measures voltage fluctuations on the scalp. The underlying ion currents occur in cortex areas near the surface and result from changes in membrane conductivity elicited by synaptic activity and intrinsic membrane processes [32]. An electrode on the skin measures the summed potentials generated by a large number of neurons. With a temporal resolution of milliseconds, EEG can easily detect the time course of neuronal activity, but spatial resolution remains limited due to the so-called inverse problem. Because an infinite number of source configurations can generate identical potentials on the skin, estimated solutions of the inverse problem, i.e. source localization, require appropriate assumptions about sources and volume conduction in order to yield physiologically meaningful data [33]. 13.

(14) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012 Table 1. Neuroimaging techniques used in neuromarketing [31] Tabela 1. Techniki neuroobrazowania stosowane w neuromarketingu [31] Electrical activity. Imaging methods Electroencephalography (EEG). Magnetencephalography (MEG). Metabolic activity. Positron-emissiontomography (PET). Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Measurement of voltage fluctuation at surface of brain: + good temporal resolution + relative equipment costs + relatively straight forward data analysis - very limited potential for locating brain areas which are responsible for voltage fluctuations Registration of changes in magnetic streams induced by voltage fluctuations: + good temporal resolution - limited spatial resolution (but better than EEG) - relatively high measurement costs - relatively complex data analysis Nuclear medicine technique for analyzing metabolic procedures in neurons: + good spatial resolution - very poorly temporal resolution - application of radioactive contrast (invasive) - relatively high measurement costs - relatively complex data analysis Measurement of metabolic activity using the magnetic properties of blood: + good spatial resolution - lower temporal resolution than EEG and MEG - relatively high measurement costs - relatively complex data analysis. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is sensitive to changes in magnetic fields that are induced by electrical brain activity. In contrast to the EEG, MEG is also able to depict activity in deeper brain structures [34]. Its temporal resolution is comparable to that of the EEG. This modality can, for example, resolve the temporal sequence of different cortical activities involved in decision-making [35]. The inverse problem applies also to MEG, so that source localization is equally dependant on valid assumptions. Integrating the different brain imaging techniques could further improve current models of source localization [32, 36]. Methods measuring metabolic or hemodynamic responses to neural activity Positron emission tomography (PET). This device is sensitive to radiation resulting from the annihilation of emitted positrons when they collide with ubiquitously present electrons. The antiparticles of electrons (positrons) are emitted by biologically relevant molecules containing certain radio-nuclides. After injection of tiny amounts of these modified molecules, for example modified glucose or neurotransmitters, their spatial distribution can be detected by a PET-scanner. From the detected distribution, information on metabolism can be derived and visualized in tomograms. Its spatial resolution is quite high (about 3–6 mm), but temporal resolution is low (several minutes to fractions of an hour) [31]. Application of PET to healthy test persons is restricted because radioactive tracers are used. Functional magnetic resonance tomography (fMRI) is currently the most frequently used functional brain imaging technique. Structural MR imaging (MRI) is used to depict brain morphology with good contrast and high resolution. MRI scanners produce sets of cross sections – tomograms – of the brain, exploiting weak, but measurable resonance signals that are emitted by tissue water in a very strong magnetic field after excitation by high frequency electromagnetic pulses [37]. The acquired resonance signals can be easily attributed to their respective spatial origin, and cross sectional images can be calculated. The signal intensity, coded as the gray value of a picture element, depends on water content and certain magnetic properties of the local tissue. 14.

(15) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. Visualizing brain functions using MRI exploits the fact that increased neuronal activity of a brain region is followed by a change in the regional cerebral blood flow [31]. Due to so-called neurovascular coupling, the increased perfusion of activated brain tissue is the basis of the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD)-Effect [38]. Hemoglobin is the oxygen-carrying molecule in blood, which has different magnetic properties depending on its oxygenation state: while oxy-hemoglobin is diamagnetic, deoxy-hemoglobin is paramagnetic. In activated brain tissue, the increased oxygen consumption causes the blood-flow response. During activation, deoxy-hemoglobin is replaced partly by oxy-hemoglobin, what is observed as lesser distortion of the local magnetic field, that is, increased signal intensity. The temporal and spatial resolution of fMRI depends on scanning technology and on the underlying physiology of the detected signal intensity changes. Current scanner technologies are able to give structural images with a resolution of about 1x1x1mm voxels (the equivalent of a pixel in a volume), while fMRI voxels typically have edge lengths of about 3–5 mm. A typical value for the spatial resolution of fMRI is about 3 mm3 and the temporal resolution is between 1 and 3 seconds [37]. It is necessary to take into account that the cerebral blood flow response to brain activation is delayed by 3-6 seconds. The main advantage of fMRI is a balance between temporal and spatial resolution, allowing whole brain scans in less than three seconds. The second advantage is its non-invasiveness, permitting repeated measurements in healthy volunteers. The choice of scanning parameters allows increasing one parameter at the expense of the other. For instance, recent fMRI approaches showed that for some neuronal systems, the temporal resolution can be improved down to the level of 100–250 milliseconds [37, 39], and spatial resolution can be increased to the level of cortical columns as basic functional units of the cortex [40]. In this context, it is important that market researcher keep in mind, that various research issues are still in their infancy and basic research is necessary to facilitate an application of these techniques to marketing. Approximately 50 percent of all neuroimaging studies are conducted with the use of fMRI [37]. This specific technologically advanced method may also provide an appropriate instrument for market researchers. The procedure of a typical fMRI experiment can be described as follows [31]: during the experiment, a test person is asked to lie in an MRI scanner for 60–90 minutes without moving. The first 6–15 minutes of an experimental session usually consist of several anatomical/structural scans of the brain. Once the scans have been performed, functional data are collected in a series of “runs” of between 3 and 10 minutes each. During each run, the participant performs whatever tasks the experimenter has designed. Often, visual stimuli are projected onto a screen in front of the participant who can make responses by pressing different buttons. While the task is being performed, the MRI scanner records the so-called BOLD signal, throughout the brain every couple of seconds. These images are then analyzed in order to identify brain areas that are significantly more or less active during the specified experimental condition, in comparison to the control condition. During a typical fMRI experiment, several functional images are recorded. Each image is divided into a large number of voxels. The data from a single voxel over the course of the fMRI experiment constitutes a time series of BOLD signals which is recorded by the scanner.. 4. Some results of neuromarketing studies with the use of fMRI Table II provides an overview of some papers published in scientific literature which explicitly address consumer research issues with the use of fMRI. Some of them report that consumers use particular decision strategies or processes, due to the stimuli available, the context and their emotional state. In nearly all neuroimaging studies on brand decision processes it was concluded that a brand logo triggers brain activity in areas which are crucial for integrating emotions and self-reward [22, 23, 28, 41]. It means that decision processes in marketing research, should be subjected to a more differential and careful analysis in respect 15.

(16) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. to the concept of emotions. From results of these studies, some brain structures which might be crucial for marketing researchers can be identified. Deppe et al. [28] reported that certain emotionally-associated brain areas correspond to brand preferences, i.e. the medial prefrontal cortex and partly the posterior cingulate. From other studies, there is evidence that some parts of the prefrontal cortex, especially the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), play a key role during emotional processing in economic decision making [16]. The prefrontal cortex seems to function as a hub in the control system [42, 43]. Ambler et al. [44] reported activity changes in the anterior and posterior cingulate cortex (ACC and PCC) due to processing of affect-related stimuli. Table 2. Overview of fMRI-studies related to marketing issues Tabela 2. Przegląd badań wykorzystujących fMRI w marketingu Study [23]. Field Decisions between different products (automobile), fMRI. [22]. Choice between different brands, fMRI. [28]. Influence of brands on credibility judgments, fMRI. [41]. Choice between different brand products and their flavour perception, fMRI. [48]. Advertising effect of Celebrities, fMRI. How does the so-called “Expertise Hook“ influence recollection?. [45]. Choice between different service brands, fMRI. How do information asymmetries influence the neural “favorite brand-effect”?. [46]. Choice between different store brands by loyal and disloyal customers, fMRI Choice between different car brands, fMRI. What is the neural mechanism behind brand loyalty?. Choice between different brands. Are there parallels between human personalities and brand “personalities”?. [47]. [21]. Question Is it possible to find neural correlates to evaluate the attractiveness of a product? Which neural correlates form the basis of brand choice? Which neural correlates form the basis of brand information as a frame in decision processes connected? How does brand information influence the flavour perception of sensorily similar products?. The aim of this study was to examine the neural correlates of culturallybased brands. Results Products which symbolize wealth and status lead to a higher activity in areas which are responsible for rewards In a decision-making process, favorite brands reduce analytic processing and lead to increasing attractiveness in fields associated with rewards In situations of doubtful credibility, brand information has an important influence on the decision-making process which results in higher attractiveness in fields which include rewards in decision making Depending on the brand information given to the test person, different areas are activated by the consumption of a soft drink. If the consumer believes the drink to be his favorite brand, areas of rewards are activated The presumed expertise of celebrities leads to an increased activation in memory structure and a significant positive influence on purchase intention The favorite brand-effect of an anterior study [22] could be replicated for decisions under uncertainty. In particular, with uncertain decisions, the favorite brand leads to activation of areas responsible for the integration of rewards into decision making Loyal retail store customers show significant neural activations in brain areas involved in reward processing when their preferred store brand is for choice as compared to disloyal customers Results showed activation of a single region in the medial prefrontal cortex related to the logos of the culturally familiar brands. The authors interpreted the results as self-relevant processing induced by the imagined use of cars with familiar brands and suggest that the prefrontal cortex plays a crucial role for processing culturally-based brands Brand personalities and human personalities are processed differently in the brain. Brand personalities are processed in areas of object recognition and human personalities in areas, which are responsible for integrating of rewards in decision making. According to neuroscientific literature the increased activity of brain structures associated with the human reward system correlates with subjects’ descriptions in context of “pleasant” 16.

(17) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. “liking” or “desirable” items. For example consumption of consumer goods, like “pleasant” or “attractive” induces positive descriptions of somatic states that could potentially also be correlated with changes in the neuronal activity of these brain structures. Until now, only a few consumer neuropsychology studies have investigated the role of the rewarding system for marketing-related issues [22, 23, 41, 45-47].. 5. Empirical evidence of influence price and quality to consumer satisfaction In this section two important neuromarketing research results are reviewed that reveal the influence of price and quality to customer satisfaction through their brain activity in parts responsible for this experience. Influence of brand image on behavioral choice and brain response Experienced value is based on the pleasure derived from consuming a brand. According to early notions of utility or value, experienced value is the “true value” that should matter the most for value-based decision making [52]. Experienced value consists of the (a) valence and (b) intensity of the consumption experience. The neural bases of computations made by the evaluation system during the consumption experience are beginning to be understood. Human fMRI studies have shown that activity in the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), in particular its medial parts, at the time a reward is being enjoyed correlates with subjective reports about the pleasantness or valence of the experience. The medial OFC might be an area where positive experienced values are computed. It was found that brain areas that receive inputs from the OFC areas, such as the ventral striatum and the pregenual cingulate cortex [64, 65], are also correlated with sensory pleasantness. An interesting open question is which neural systems encode negative experiences. Several studies have found that unpleasantness of taste might be correlated with brain activity in the lateral OFC and left dorsal anterior insula/operculum [62]. One problem in investigating negative experience is to dissociate it from intensity. This problem arises due to the negativity bias of intensity: negative experiences are usually also perceived to be more intense and thus are often confounded [62], in particular for visual stimuli such as facial or object attractiveness. Several recent human fMRI experiments have provided novel insights into how marketing actions such as branding might alter the properties of the experienced value signals. For example, one study showed that activity in the medial OFC in response to an odor depended on whether subjects believed that they smelled cheddar cheese or body odor [59]. Yet another study found that experienced values of works of art, and accompanying engagement of the medial OFC, depended on whether the subjects believed they were created by an expert (i.e., an artist) or by a non-expert (i.e., the experimenter) [66]. These findings suggest that the experienced valuation system is modulated by higher cognitive processes that determine expectancies and beliefs – a phenomenon recently referred to as the “placebo effects of marketing” actions [55, 67] or “expectation bias” [68]. For modern humans, behavioral preferences for food and beverages are potentially modulated by an enormous number of sensory variables, hedonic states, expectations, semantic priming, and social context. It means that many levels of social, cognitive, and cultural influences combine to produce behavioral preferences for food and drink. Cultural influences on our behavioral preferences for food and drink are now intertwined with the biological expediency that shaped the early version of the underlying preference mechanisms. In many cases, cultural influences dominate what we eat and drink. Behavioral evidence suggests that cultural messages can insinuate themselves into the decision-making processes that yield preferences for one consumable or another. 17.

(18) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. The neural substrates underlying food and drink preferences and their influence by cultural images have not been explored because the majority of work on olfaction and gustation has focused on sensory processing. McClure et al. [41] are the first which explored neural correlates of behavioral preference for culturally familiar drinks. The authors combined simple taste tests and event-related fMRI to probe the neural responses that correlate with the behavioral preference for noncarbonated versions of Coke and Pepsi and investigated the influence of the brand image on behavioral choice and brain response to both drinks. They pursued three primary questions: (1) What is the behavioral and neural response to these drinks when presented anonymously? (2) What is the behavioral and neural influence of knowledge about which drink is being consumed? (3) In questions 1 and 2, is there a correlation between the expressed behavioral preference and the neural response as measured using fMRI? In earlier work Knutson et al. [70] using fMRI have identified rewardrelated brain responses that scale with the degree to which subjects find stimuli pleasing or rewarding. Such information suggests that humans will choose more pleasing stimuli over less pleasing stimuli by evaluation and comparison and that, for two sugared drinks (Coke and Pepsi), the most pleasing drink is the one that subjectively tastes better than its competitor. This perspective offers the simplest model that connects reward-related brain responses to expressed behavioral preferences. However, Erk et al. [23] have indeed shown that cultural information can modulate reward-related brain response. McClure et al. [41] supposed that this general observation is particularly true for Coke and Pepsi because there are visual images and marketing messages that have insinuated themselves into the nervous systems of humans that consume the drinks. They hypothesized that these cultural messages perturb taste perception. The researchers offered 67 committed Coke and Pepsi drinkers a choice, and in blind testing, they preferred Pepsi. When they were shown the company logos before they drank, however, 75% preferred Coke. The researchers using fMRI scanned the brains of the participants during the test and discovered that the Coke label created higher activity in the part of the brain associated with memories and selfimage, while Pepsi, though preferred by most, did little to these feel-good centers in the brain. In the blind test half the subjects choose Pepsi, and it tended to produce a stronger response than Coke in the brain's, but when the subjects were told they were drinking Pepsi three-quarters said that Coke tasted better. Their brain activity had also changed. Therefore, as a better taste can be considered as a better quality, the research reveals crucial proof how people are mislead about it through properly chosen marketing strategy. The authors reported the finding that two separate systems are involved in generating preferences. When judgments are based solely on sensory information, relative activity in the VMPFC predicts people’s preferences. In the case of Coke and Pepsi, sensory information plays only a part in determining people’s behavior. Brand knowledge like in the case of Coke biases preference decisions and recruits the hippocampus, DLPFC, and midbrain. The results suggest that the VMPFC and hippocampus/DLPFC/midbrain might function independently to bias preferences based on sensory and cultural information, respectively. Coke and Pepsi are special in that, while they have very similar chemical composition, people maintain strong behavioral preferences for one over the other. These behavioral preferences were measured objectively, by administering double-blind taste tests. It was found that subjects split equally in their preference for Coke and Pepsi in the absence of brand information. The fMRI results corroborate the behavioral taste test results because the BOLD signal in the VMPFC correlated strongly with the behavior results of the double-blind taste tests. The VMPFC is strongly implicated in signaling basic appetitive aspects of reward. The BOLD signal changes scale in the VMPFC with reward value. It is also known that. 18.

(19) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. patients with lesions in the VMPFC are insensitive to future reward or punishment value in making decisions [41]. The other special characteristic of Coke and Pepsi is that both possess a wealth of cultural meaning. One important fact that may account for the lack of correlation between subjects’ stated and behavioral preferences is the effect of presumed brand knowledge. Subjects expressed strong preferences for either Coke or Pepsi when asked which type of beverage they normally drink and commonly demonstrated a desire to prove this preference. In the taste tests, no significant influence of brand knowledge for Pepsi contrasted with the anonymous task were found. However, there was a dramatic effect of the Coke label on subjects’ behavioral preference. Despite the fact that there was Coke in all cups during the taste test, subjects preferred Coke in the labeled cups significantly more than Coke in the anonymous task and significantly more than Pepsi in the parallel anonymous task. When an image of a Coke can preceded Coke delivery, significantly greater brain activity was observed in the DLPFC, hippocampus, and midbrain relative to Coke delivery preceded by a circle of light. Equivalent knowledge about Pepsi delivery had no such effect. No brain areas showed a significant difference to Pepsi delivered with versus without brand knowledge. The hippocampus and DLPFC have both been previously implicated in modifying behavior on emotion and affect. The DLPFC is commonly implicated in aspects of cognitive control, including working memory. Lesions to the DLPFC are also known to result in depression, which is hypothesized to result from a decreased ability to use positive affect to modify behavior. It has been proposed that the DLPFC is necessary for employing affective information in biasing behavior [41]. This is consistent with findings that labeling Coke in taste and imaging tasks both biases behavior and recruits activity. The hippocampus has also been implicated in processing affective information, but this association is tied to its role in the acquisition and recall of declarative memories. The hippocampus is especially important in relating information to discontiguous sensory cues and also in recalling affect-related information, for example, may participate in recalling cultural information that biases preference judgments. The DLPFC and hippocampus are only two of several brain areas that have been implicated in biasing behavior based on affect. Other areas include the amygdala, ventral striatum, anterior cingulate cortex, posterior cingulate cortex, and orbitofrontal cortex [26]. The most experiments linking these brain areas to judgments involve subjects making decisions through expressed motor behavior. The experiment conducted by McClure et al. [41] involved only the percept of beverage, with no instruction to make preference decisions. The researchers suggest an interesting possibility that the hippocampus and DLPFC are specifically involved in biasing perception based on prior affective bias, whereas the other brain areas listed above are more involved in altering behavioral output. Determining preferences appears to result from the interaction of two separate brain systems situated principally in the prefrontal cortex. The ventromedial region of the prefrontal cortex plays a prominent role when preferences are determined solely from sensory information. Therefore, the relative activity in the VMPFC is a very good indicator of which sensory stimulus is preferred by the subject. However, cultural influences like brand information have a strong influence on expressed behavioral preferences. McClure et al. [41] hypothesize that cultural information biases preference decisions through the dorsolateral region of the prefrontal cortex, with the hippocampus engaged to recall the associated information. These two systems appear to function independently, since VMPFC activity is unaffected by brand knowledge. Generally, the study also showed that the experienced value signals depended on brand associations.. 19.

(20) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. A similar version of the above-suggested experiment has been done using a different methodological approach, namely using patients with brain damage or lesions in a specific brain area, here the VMPFC. Koenigs and Tranel [69] investigated how preferences for Coke vs. Pepsi in patients with damage in the VMPFC changed during blind vs. open tasting of both beverages. The authors found that brand associations in the open tasting did not influence the lesion patients, only the control patients. It means that patients with a lesioned VMPFC did not reverse their preferences when they knew what brand of beverage they were consuming. To better understand the roles of the regions reported by McClure et al. [41], similar studies should be conducted on patients with injury to the dorsolateral prefrontral cortex and hippocampus. The advantage of using lesion patients as compared to fMRI is that causal and not “only” correlational links between mental processes and brain functioning can be established. Relation between price and satisfaction A basic assumption in economics is that the experienced pleasantness (EP) from consuming a good depends only on its intrinsic properties and on the state of the individual [52]. For example, the pleasure derived from consuming a soda should depend only on the molecular composition of the drink and the level of thirst of the consumer. However, marketers try to influence EP by changing properties of commodities, such as prices, that are unrelated to their intrinsic qualities or to the consumer’s state. This type of influence is valuable for companies, because EP serves as a learning signal that is used by the brain to guide future choices. Contrary to the basic assumptions of economics, it was shown that marketing actions can successfully affect EP by manipulating nonintrinsic attributes of goods. For example, knowledge of a beer’s ingredients and brand can affect reported taste quality [53, 54]. It was shown that people who paid a higher price for an energy drink, such as Red Bull, were able to solve more puzzles than those who paid a discounted price for the same product. This is one of the examples placebo effect of marketing [55]. Despite the importance and pervasiveness of various marketing actions, very little is known about the neural mechanisms through which they affect decisions made by individuals. Plassmann et al. [54] proposed a mechanism through which marketing actions can affect decision making. It was hypothesized that changes in the price of a product can influence neural computations associated with EP. Earlier it was found that affective expectations influence appraisals made about hedonic experiences and, through this, the actual quality of experiences [53, 56]. Perceptions of quality are known to be positively correlated with price, a consumer is likely to believe that a more expensive product will probably taste better [57]. Higher taste expectations leads to higher activity in the medial orbitofrontal cortex (MOFC), an area of the brain that is widely thought to encode for actual experienced pleasantness [58, 59]. To investigate the impact of price on the neural computations associated with EP, Plassmann et al. [54] scanned human subjects using fMRI while they sampled different wines and an affectively neutral control solution, which consisted of the main ionic components of human saliva. In the study there were recruited 11 male graduate students who said they liked and occasionally drank red wine. The students were told that they would be trying five different Cabernet Sauvignons, identified by price, to study the effect of sampling time on flavor. In fact, only three wines were used – two were given twice. The first wine (wine 1) was identified by its real bottle price of $5 and by a fake $45 price tag. The second wine (wine 2) was marked with its actual $90 price and by a fictitious $10 tag. The third wine, which was used to distract the participants, was marked with its correct $35 price. The wines were administered in random order, simultaneously with the appearance of the price cue. Students 20.

(21) TOWAROZNAWCZE PROBLEMY JAKOŚCI 3(32)/2012. were asked to focus on flavor and how much they enjoyed each sample. After the study the participants said they could taste five different wines, even though there were only three, and added that the wines identified as more expensive tasted better. The researchers found that an increase in the perceived price of a wine did lead to increased activity in the brain because of an associated increase in taste expectation. According to researchers, if a person is told he or she is tasting two different wines – and that one costs $5 and the other $45, when they are, in fact, the same wine – the part of the brain that experiences pleasure will become more active when the drinker thinks he or she is enjoying a more expensive vintage. Therefore, this research reveals crucial evidence on price and satisfaction relation. Hence it may be concluded that higher consumer satisfaction is based not on real quality, but the price as they use it as an indicator of product quality. “So, in essence, price is changing people's experiences with a product and, therefore, the outcomes from consuming this product” [54]. Brain imaging data were analyzed using two different general linear models. First, brain areas were looked for whose activity increased with the price of wine. More concretely, the BOLD response to each of the liquids at degustation and swallowing was estimated and then analyzed the contrasts “high-low price” at degustation separately for wines 1 and 2. Increased activation in the left MOFC and the left VMPFC) was found. Another cluster was found in a superior part of the VMPFC adjoining the rostral anterior cingulate cortex (RACC). Increased activation in the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, visual cortex, middle temporal gyrus, and cingulate gyrus was also found. The contrast generated similar results for wine 2: increased activation was observed in the bilateral MOFC, VMPFC, and RACC. In addition, for the wine 2, activation changes in the amygdala, lateral parts of the OFC, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, inferior and middle temporal gyrus, and posterior cingulate cortex was also found. Small differences on the areas of the medial prefrontal cortex activated by the two wines were investigated further to identify areas in which brain activity was higher on the high price condition for both wines. The bilateral MOFC and adjoining RACC exhibited this pattern. It was found that the effect of price on MOFC activity was higher for the cheap $5 wine than for the expensive $90 wine. This suggests that the effect of a price increase on MOFC activity might be larger at low than at high prices. Several previous studies have shown that activity in the MOFC is correlated with behavioral pleasantness ratings for odors [58, 59, tastes [41, 61, 62, and even music [63]. Processing of subjective pleasantness is essential in daily life decision making, particularly in the context of cognitive and environmental factors. Pleasure is mediated by a neural network and this network has been suggested to be the biological basis of pleasure including a whole range of different modalities and domains of pleasantness. In the very recent paper [60], positive correlates of subjective pleasantness were found in MOFC, ventromedial prefrontal cortex, left ventral striatum, pregenual cortex, right cerebellum, left thalamus and the mid cingulate cortex. Negative correlates were found in left precentral gyrus, right cerebellum and right inferior frontal gyrus. A comparison of studies with subjective pleasantness judgement during or after scanning revealed no significant differences in brain activation. Kühn S., Gallinat [60] conclude that subjective pleasantness judgements are directly related to brain regions that have been described as part of the reward circuitry (MOFC, ventral striatum). Authors suggest that the evaluation of likability or pleasure is an automatic process and that it is neither elicited nor enhanced by instructions to report the outcome of these judgements. The results have implications for several disciplines [54]. The EP signal plays a central role in neuroeconomics, because it serves as a teaching signal that guides future behavior. The economic view states that EP depends only on the sensory properties of the product being consumed (i.e., its chemical composition) and the state of the consumer. fMRI results suggest that the brain might compute EP in a much more sophisticated manner that involves integrating the actual sensory properties of the product being consumed with the expectations 21.