RazisKAVA: Exploration of the (De)Caffeinated Landscape

Abstract

Introduction

Drinking coffee is a cultural phenomenon that has been studied by scientists from many angles, such as the neurobiological or the psychological effects of extrinsic and intrinsic aspects of coffee. They do not, however, aim to describe subjective experience of coffee consumption in depth. Our project is explicitly interested in consumers’ subjective experience, aiming to answer our research question: Can we detect the effects of caffeine solely based on our experience? The experience in question is tied not only to caffeine consumption but also to the ritual of the morning coffee.

Approach

With no previous studies to rely on in terms of methodology, our biggest challenge was identifying categories that we could use to effectively measure participants’ experiences.  We took an experimental yet reflective approach to addressing the methodological challenge, with a strong emphasis on the phenomenological aspects of the morning coffee. To identify relevant categories of the phenomenon we first determined a few possible categories through our own immersion in the experience of the morning coffee. Then, the participants were asked to respond to a survey about their general experience of coffee consumption. Finally, we combined the participants’ input with our own findings and ended up with the following categories: wakefulness, readiness for physical activity, arousal, presentness in the moment, and affective dimension.

Methodology and Procedure

We had 9 participants most of whom were graduate students. The age range was 22–32, but for one participant, aged 56. Each participant received 20 samples of instant coffee, half of which were decaffeinated. Each sample contained 2 g of instant coffee and 4 g of powdered milk to mask any dissimilarities in taste and smell. Participants reported their experiences in the five categories on 9-point scales and their general experience, which they could describe freely. They were asked to report their experience at three different time points: right before drinking the coffee (starting at around 9 in the morning), 30–45 minutes after consumption (when plasma caffeine concentration peaks [1]), and 2.5–3 hours after consumption. At the last time point they were prompted to mark on a 9-point scale (from -4 to 4) how sure they were, whether the coffee they drank had caffeine in it or not (4 meant they were absolutely certain it was caffeinated, -4 meant that it was definitely decaffeinated, 0 meant they had absolutely no idea, which one it was). The study took place in two phases of two weeks with a two-week period in between dedicated to gathering the participants’ impressions through short interviews. Similar interviews will be carried out after all data has been collected to evaluate the determined categories and gain further insight of the participants’ experiences.

Results

With the preliminary results, we aim to answer our research question. Further analysis of the data may reveal different relationships between the categories.

References

[1] J. Blanchard and S. J. A. Sawers, “The absolute bioavailability of caffeine in man,” European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 93–98, January 1983. doi: 10.1007/bf00613933.