Temporal and Hedonic Sensory Qualities of Yogurt Enriched With Chia Seeds While Considering Consumer Attitudes and Lifestyles

ABSTRACT When reformulating food products, understanding sensory perception is crucial, as acceptance and sensory profiles may differ among consumer segments. Although chia seeds have been examined in nutritional reformulation studies, research on the relationships between sensory and hedonic profiles, consumer attitudes, and lifestyles across different consumer clusters in reformulated yogurts remains limited. This study evaluated the impact of reducing sugar and skim milk powder, as well as incorporating chia seeds, on the dynamic sensory profile, overall liking of yogurt, and consumer attitudes and food‐related lifestyles. To do so, 91 consumers (18–60 years; mean 29 ± 11) with an almost balanced sex distribution (51% women, 47% men, 2% preferred not to state) evaluated the yogurts using TCATA and a 9‐point hedonic scale. Consumer attitudes and food‐related lifestyles were also measured using validated questionnaires, and cluster analysis was applied to identify consumer segments based on liking patterns. The incorporation of chia seeds increased the citation of sweet, dairy, chia, and creamy attributes at the onset of consumption. Sweet and dairy were associated with higher liking scores, particularly in yogurts containing 25% skim milk powder substitution with chia seeds and no sugar reduction. Consumer segmentation indicated heterogeneous acceptance. A cluster with a higher proportion of women and greater interest in organic products showed higher liking for reformulated yogurts, whereas a predominantly male cluster rated reformulated samples lower. Overall, these results provide sensory‐ and consumer‐based evidence of how dynamic perception and consumer profiles shape acceptance of chia‐reformulated yogurts.