Benchmarking Breakfast Cereals

Direct side-by-side comparison of eight popular cold breakfast cereals were evaluated using magnitude estimation and a repeated measures experimental design. A competitive set of cereals typically targeted at 18 to 24 year old females was used to evaluate quality perceptions based on blind ratings of dry cereals, cereals with milk, cereals with brand and package information and cereals with nutritional label information. Results indicate that the panel judges can discriminate on each design measure using magnitiude estimation procedures. High levels of differentiation were exhibited in response to cereals with milk and cereals with brand/package information, and considerably less discrimination power was shown using information based on dry cereal and nutritional label information evaluations.