A panel is a group of research participants, consisting of panelists. You can imagine that a different type of panel is used for research on how consumers will perceive a new flavor of crisps, compared to the subtle change of structure in a cake where sugar is partly replaced by a sweetener. Consumer panels should be a representative of regular consumers of the specific product, while other panels, such as analytical and expert panels, require training before they can do their job.

The type of panel is mainly selected based on the type of research question that you want to answer. It depends on the type of response, that is whether it is an analytical or a hedonic response (see also An important difference: hedonic vs. analytical). An example of a hedonic research question can be: ‘How well is a reduced sugar content in juice by a brand accepted?’ or ‘How much is a new flavor of breakfast yogurt like by people regularly consuming yogurt for breakfast?’. For these types of questions, usually, consumer panels, or lay panels are used. It is important that the panel is a frequent consumer of the product that is tested.

When there is an analytical question to be answered, for example: ‘What attributes can be used best to describe the flavor of cheese biscuits’ or ‘What is the difference in sweetness intensity in different food items?’. For these type of questions, analytical panels or expert panels can be used. These panels first need to be trained to be able to conduct such a task. In the following knowledge clip it is further explained what kind of panels exist, and when they can be used.