Running head: MALE AND FEMALE PREFERENCES FOR ICE CREAM

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate whether a greater preference exists for a higher fat containing brand of cookie dough ice cream (Haagen-Dazs) versus a lower fat containing brand of ice cream (Ben and Jerry’s). We also examined whether males or females would have a greater preference for ice cream. Twenty-four Lewis and Clark College students and faculty participated in our taste testing experiment. Thirteen subjects were male and eleven were female. After completing the experiment we were able to conclude that our results were not statistically significant. There was not a significant preference for the higher fat containing Haagen-Dazs ice cream over Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, nor was there noteworthy data collected to show that females preferred ice cream more than males.

Male and Female Preferences for Different Brands of cookie Dough Ice Cream and Fat Content

Based on past studies done by Frederick J Thumin (1962) research has shown that subjects are able to identify tastes and brands based on past experiences during taste testing experiments. We conducted a taste testing experiment in order to answer the question of whether or not subjects have a preference for certain brands of ice cream based on prior knowledge of the flavor in question and regular eating habits. We hoped to find out whether our subjects could tell the difference between two specific brands and why they might seem to have a preference for one over the other.

The presented study was designed to investigate whether the participants in this experiment would prefer the higher fat content brand of cookie dough ice cream (Haagen-Dazs) versus the lower fat ice cream (Ben and Jerry’s). After discussing this question, we also examined whether or not males or females would have a preference for ice cream in general. Our hypothesis developed on the assumption that women tend to enjoy foods with higher fat content more than men. We sensed that most females tend to avoid high fat content foods, fearing excessive weight gain, which seems to be less of a concern among males. Therefore, fat becomes more of a treat for women versus an every day event, hence they would be more likely to enjoy ice cream more than males. Based on the guidelines in the American Psychological Association 4^th edition (American Psychological Association [APA], 1994.)

Methods

Twenty-four Lewis and Clark College students and faculty participated in our experiment. Thirteen subjects were male, and eleven were female. Each subject was chosen from individuals walking by the "Grassy Knoll" on Lewis and Clark College’s campus.

We had the participants taste ice cream from two separate containers. Both were the same size and had been out of the freezer for an equal amount of time. One flavor was Ben and Jerry’s chocolate chip cookie dough, and the other was Haagen-Dazs of the same flavor. We used earphones to keep out noise, and a scarf to be used as a blindfold during the experiment in order to keep out unnecessary sensory stimuli. We used two spoons for each subject, one for each brand of ice cream. We also used medium-sized Dixie cups filled half way with water for the subjects to drink between tastes. Our ice cream was kept in a large cooler in order to keep the ice cream cold throughout the experiment.

We first had our selected subject read a paragraph, which described what would be entailed by participating in our experiment. The paragraph read as follows:

After reading this letter we gave the subjects full freedom to leave if they did not want to participate any longer. For those who still wanted to take part in our experiment, we had them sign a consent form. Our experiment was a double blind procedure where only the experimenter who scooped out the ice cream knew the brand and the sequence it was given to the subject in order to avoid experimenter bias. Each spoonful carefully had one cookie dough chunk in it so that each serving was consistent. In order to provide some control to this within-subject experiment, the order of brand presentation was varied each time. The experimenter who was not feeding the subject recorded the participant’s answers for preference and also made sure to record the subject’s gender on the same sheet. The sheet was then handed to the experimenter that had been scooping out the ice cream in order to record the order of the brands for later analysis of our results. The experimental time for each subject was approximately five minutes.

Results

After completing our experiment we were able to conclude that our results were not statistically significant using an alpha value of .05. There was not a significant preference for the higher fat containing Haagen-Dazs ice cream over Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, nor was there noteworthy data collected to show that females preferred ice cream more than males. The mean values (with the standard deviations in parentheses) showed that females scored ice cream taste higher than males with M = 5.14 (SD = 1.25) and

M = 4.673 (SD = 1.27), respectively. These results were analyzed in a multi-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) showing the insignificant difference between males’ and females’ preferences for ice cream, F (1, 22) = 1.04, p = 0.32.

We also determined that there was not a significant preference for fat content within our analyzed subjects. Haagen-Dazs, the brand that contained a higher fat content, had an M = 5.00 (SD = 1.33) and Ben and Jerry’s had an M = 4.70 (SD = 1.21). Although Haagen-Dazs was the preferred brand, our multi-way ANOVA showed the preference to be insignificant, F (1, 22) = 1.40, p = 0.25.

Based on our data from each of the two independent variables, the two-way interaction was also found to be statistically insignificant. The data consisted of males rating of Haagen-Dazs; M = 4.85 (SD = 1.52), females rating of Haagen-Dazs; M = 5.27 (SD = 1.10), males preferring Ben and Jerry’s; M = 4.5 (SD = 1.00), and females rating of Ben and Jerry’s; M = 5 (SD = 1.41). The ANOVA test showed interaction values of F (1, 22) = 0.02, p = 0.89, which indicates no statistical relationship between these two independent variables.

Discussion

The study that has been presented was designed to answer the question of whether the general population of Lewis and Clark College has a tendency to prefer one brand of cookie dough ice cream to another because of fat content, and whether females have a tendency to prefer ice cream more than males. Our original hypothesis was that females would be inclined to like ice cream more than males because of the bias in society that prevents females from consuming fatty foods. Females would be more susceptible to enjoy a food that they are urged to avoid. Therefore, males regard ice cream as something they can consume daily, while females see it as a special treat, deserving of a higher rating. Regarding the preference for fat among the Lewis and Clark community, we felt that the higher fat content of Haagen-Dazs would be preferred because fatty foods tend to taste better to more people. Although we thought our hypothesis would represent the general consensus, our results proved otherwise. We found that females don’t have a significant preference over males for the taste of ice cream, and that fat content didn’t make a significant difference in the participants’ opinions of each ice cream brand.

Our means were higher for females versus males in fondness for ice cream, as were our means for preference of Haagen-Dazs over Ben and Jerry’s, but our

p values showed that the small distinction between the means was not statistically significant. This incorporated chance as a main factor for the minute differences. We also found that there was no indication of an interaction effect between our two variables, signifying no relationship between them.

The statistical insignificance of our results suggests the involvement of some confounding variables that prevented us from making a valid conclusion on the influence of gender and/or fat content in the preference of ice cream. For example, the ice cream had melted when first bought and had been refrozen in order to use during our experiment. Many people complained of ice crystals throughout the tasting, and this may have affected the way they rated the ice cream. Another problem we encountered while running the experiment was that subjects overheard the ratings of others on the Likert scale, and although they did not receive the ice cream in the same order, they tended to mimic what they had previously heard. This may have been in part due to subject bias, as they may have been manipulating their opinions to benefit the experiment.

If this experiment were to be done again, I would suggest that it not be conducted in the morning because most people do not tend to like ice cream in the early hours of the day. Also, getting an equal amount of males and females to participate in the experiment would presumably make a difference. Another factor that we failed to consider was the possible involvement of subjects who all loved ice cream. This may have contributed to subject variable confound by unconsciously forming a related group of subjects. It would have helped our results to have a control group who did not like ice cream. Finally, because the difference in fat content between our ice creams was not extreme, one might try an experiment with extremely low fat ice cream versus a really high fat brand. Overall, this was an entertaining and amusing experiment. It seems, according to our results, that everyone does indeed scream for ice cream.

References

Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (4^th ed.). (1994). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

Thumin, Frederick J. (1962). Identification of Cola Beverages. Journal of Applied Psychology, 46 (5), 358-360.