How do people communicate about sensory descriptors in social media? An investigation comprising floral descriptors, four beverages, and thirteen English-speaking countries

The internet has become a mainstay of modern-day life, with people worldwide using social media platforms to discuss ideas and exchange opinions. In recent years, social media platforms have become a data source for research focusing on consumers' natural and spontaneous lexicons. The increased use of social media and virtual meetings means people can exchange ideas, and cultural boundaries have blurred. Thus, this study aims to investigate how culture influences the use of the beverage descriptor “floral” on social media for four different beverages when people share the same language. A social media study was performed, collecting data over 1 year in 13 English-speaking countries: Australia, Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, Singapore, New Zealand, and seven Caribbean Islands. Words associated with four beverages (beer, cocktails, tea, and wine) and floral were filtered on social media mentions. A total of 258,221 mentions were obtained from different types of social media such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and so forth. The mentions were filtered to obtain the frequency of words by country. Each beverage was analyzed separately, and contingency tables were arranged by country and descriptor. A correspondence analysis was performed on each contingency table to identify relative similarities and dissimilarities between the countries in the study. Overall, rose was the most cited floral descriptor, and there was a link between beer and wine descriptions. However, for cocktails and tea, the floral descriptors varied per country. Thus, it suggests that the impact of culture on the use of floral descriptors depends on the beverage being discussed.

Practical Applications

The results obtained in this study have relevance for people interested in sensory and specifically in beverage descriptions, as well as those involved in the alcohol industry, particularly those involved in beer and wine, and the non-alcohol industry (tea). These results can drive the construction of applied and effective marketing strategic plans for the beverage and flavor industry in the areas covered by the study.