A validation study was performed to confirm the findings of a previous experiment, by enlarging it at younger age groups. The study was conducted in France and Germany. Monadic preferences for seven orange juices were recorded. Three of the samples were replicates of the same juice (RJ). The four others were RJ slightly spiked with chemicals. Each subject then performed a paired preference test composed of RJ and the modified juice whose score was the furthest from the RJ score. Finally, subjects had to choose one among eight reasons why they preferred that sample. The effects of age, gender and country on the consistency of liking scores were examined. Most of the findings of the previous study were confirmed. Moreover, French adults tended to be less consistent than German adults, whereas the opposite pattern was found regarding children. However, country had no effect on the ability to identify the reason for preference. © 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.