A market researcher wants to find the cause-and-effect relationship between using organic ingredients in food and the subsequent consumption by customers. He invites ten respondents to his research firm and asks them to taste two identical dishes. The dishes were prepared in a similar manner, but one has natural herbs for flavoring, and the other has artificial flavors. This is an example of ________.

A) descriptive research
B) ethnographic research
C) experimental research
D) online research
E) exploratory research

C