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Product Similarity Studio
Turn Sensory discrimination tests into business decisions
A free web application for the sensory and consumer research community, developed by SensElevation.
Product Similarity Studio is a free decision-support tool designed to help sensory professionals determine whether two products can be considered sufficiently similar for a specific business objective.
DETAILS
Traditional sensory discrimination tests are often used to determine whether two products are perceptibly different. However, many real business questions are not about detecting a difference, but about determining whether products are similar enough for a specific decision.
Can an ingredient be replaced without meaningfully changing the sensory experience? Can a reformulated product be considered sufficiently close to the current product? Is the observed similarity strong enough to support a business decision?
Answering these questions requires more than simply obtaining a non-significant difference test. Product Similarity Studio provides a framework for defining, evaluating and interpreting product similarity using sensory discrimination data.
What can you do with Product Similarity Studio?
✓ Design your study
Determine the sample size and test characteristics needed to reach a meaningful conclusion.
✓ Analyse your results
Evaluate discrimination-test results using statistical approaches specifically designed for similarity assessment.
✓ Support your decision
Translate statistical evidence into conclusions that are easier to connect with product and business decisions.
Need to go further with Product Similarity Studio?
Product Similarity Studio is designed to help you apply similarity testing approaches independently. However, some projects may require deeper statistical expertise, team training, or a solution tailored to your organization.
Statistical consulting
Need support defining an appropriate similarity criterion, designing your study, analysing your results, or interpreting them in the context of a specific business decision? SensElevation can provide statistical consulting tailored to your project and help you build a robust similarity assessment strategy.
Training
Want your team to better understand the statistical concepts behind Product Similarity Studio and learn how to apply them to real sensory projects? SensElevation offers dedicated training sessions on sensory discrimination and similarity testing, combining statistical foundations, practical interpretation, and hands-on applications.
Custom tools
Need Product Similarity Studio adapted to your own methods, workflows, or internal requirements? SensElevation can develop customized versions of the application or dedicated statistical tools tailored to your organization, including additional analyses, automated reporting, specific interfaces, or integration of your own methodologies.
Have a specific need? Contact SensElevation to discuss your project.
About the authors of Product Similarity Studio
Dhirendra Singh Gehlot
Dhir has a research background in sensory science and psychophysics, with specialised master's degrees in food-choice determinants and in flavour and fragrance management, along with industry experience. He translates rigorous sensory and statistical methods into practical tools that turn test results into clear business decisions.
Fabien Llobell, PhD
Founder of SensElevation and former Head of R&D at XLSTAT.
Fabien specializes in sensory analysis, consumer research and market research methodologies, as well as the development of statistical tools and data analysis software. Throughout his career, he has contributed to the development of numerous statistical methods and software solutions. Today, he supports industry professionals and researchers through consulting, training, workshops, and the development of custom analytical tools.
Free access to the community
Product Similarity Studio is a web application developed by SensElevation and made freely available to the sensory and consumer research community.
Your data remain confidential. Files uploaded to this application are used exclusively to perform the requested analyses. SensElevation does not store, retain, or reuse your data. Uploaded data are processed temporarily during your session and are not saved to any persistent storage.
The community version operates on shared hosting resources and is subject to certain capacity limitations:
- Monthly usage capacity: up to 2,000 usage hours are available to the community each month. If this capacity is reached, the application may become temporarily unavailable until the monthly allowance is renewed.
- Simultaneous usage: because computing resources are shared among all users, performance may be affected when a large number of users run analyses at the same time. In periods of high demand, the application may become slower or temporarily unavailable.
For occasional use, these limitations should generally have little impact. However, if your organization requires reliable and uninterrupted access, a dedicated version of Product Similarity Studio can be deployed specifically for your team, with resources independent from the community version.
Need dedicated access? Contact SensElevation.
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