A paper from Professor Nadia Streletskaya (and others) was just published in the journal Food Quality and Preference. The paper, entitled "How information leads consumers to select specialty foods when tasting is not an option," evaluated how sensory information (i.e., tasting and food pairing notes) and expert distinction (i.e., an award label) affect consumer demand for two familiar (Brie, Cheddar) and two unfamiliar (Coulommiers, Cantal) varieties of artisanal cheese in the U.S. The results showed that in general consumers prefer familiar varieties and that both sensory information and an award label increase consumers’ willingness to pay for the cheese. Nevertheless, the study results also showed three distinct consumer segmentations who make choices differently, including some that value novelty flavors.