Charles Spence

Charles Spence
University of Oxford | OX · Department of Experimental Psychology

About

1,407
Publications
859,928
Reads
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76,378
Citations
Additional affiliations
June 1992 - September 1997
University of Cambridge
Position
  • PhD & Junior Research Fellow
October 1997 - present
University of Oxford
Position
  • Professor of Experimental Psychology
January 2012 - present
School of Advanced Study
Position
  • Collaborator on multiple projects at CenSes

Publications

Publications (1,407)
Article
Full-text available
Several studies have investigated crossmodal associations involving audiovisual stimuli. To date, however, far fewer studies have explored the relationship between musical timbre and visual features (e.g., soft/harsh timbres with blue/red colours). To fill this gap in the literature, 249 participants were invited to judge the match between differen...
Article
Full-text available
In this narrative historical review, we take a closer look at the role of tactile/haptic stimulation in enhancing people’s immersion (and sense of presence) in a variety of entertainment experiences, including virtual reality (VR). An important distinction is highlighted between those situations in which digital tactile stimulation and/or haptic fe...
Article
Rounded shapes are associated with softness and warmth, whereas Platonic solids are associated with hardness and coldness. We investigated the temperature-shape association through sensorial/conceptual qualities of geometric ice-like textured shapes. In Experiment 1, participants viewed symmetrical rotating 3D shapes (five Platonic solids-cube, tet...
Article
Full-text available
This study investigates consumers’ perception of plant-based and meat-based ready meals, focusing on ratings of tastiness, freshness, healthiness, and willingness to pay (WTP). Our findings reveal that plant-based ready meals are perceived as looking less tasty, and consumers exhibit a decreased WTP when compared to meat-based alternatives, despite...
Article
Full-text available
Crossmodal correspondences, the tendency for a sensory feature / attribute in one sensory modality (either physically present or merely imagined), to be associated with a sensory feature in another sensory modality, have been studied extensively, revealing consistent patterns, such as sweet tastes being associated with pink colours and round shapes...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose of Review The bioactive compounds present as natural constituents in a variety of herbs and spices, as well as in various other foods, provide health benefits beyond the basic nutritional value of the ingredients themselves. This review considers the various ways in which the consumption of herbs and spices may help to promote human health....
Preprint
This study explores how users perceive the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in various culinary scenarios. Using a hybrid model that combines Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling and a Zero-Inflated Poisson Regression Mixture Model, the research examines the influence of factors including the perceived accuracy of AI systems, gen...
Article
Full-text available
Nothing beats a comforting image of a bowl of hot soup with whisps of rising steam unless it is the actual soup itself. The current paper investigates the influence of food photography on people’s food expectations. Despite the recognition of the importance of the food temperature depicted in food images, the effectiveness of using visual cues on f...
Article
There has long been interest in augmenting cinematic and other forms of public entertainment through tactile and/or bodily (i.e., vestibular) stimulation. In this narrative historical review, the early history of touch (or haptics, as it is sometimes called) and other forms of bodily stimulation (e.g., motion platforms) in the context of entertainm...
Article
In this narrative review, we take a critical look at the various attempts that have been made to augment home (or personal) entertainment experiences via the addition of some form of digitally controlled tactile stimulation. There has been an explosive growth in the market for home entertainment in recent years, and a majority of smartphones and ot...
Article
The present research investigates the stability of taste-shape crossmodal correspondences (that is, how people non-randomly associate tastes and visual shapes, such as sweetness matched to roundness) over time, exploring the temporal dimension of crossmodal interactions. While previous research has established the existence of various taste-shape c...
Experiment Findings
Full-text available
Sourdough making as an artisanal activity and the multisensory experiences that come along exert well-being effects.
Conference Paper
This study investigates consumers' perceptions of plant-based and meat-based ready meals, focusing on ratings of tastiness, freshness, healthiness, and willingness to pay (WTP). Our findings reveal that plant-based ready meals as looking less tasty and consumers exhibit a decreased WTP when compared to meat-based alternatives, despite the plant-bas...
Article
Full-text available
The study aimed to investigate the influence of different types of acoustic stimulus (classical vs. rock music) on the growth of bok choy (Brassica rapa) plants. Three separate groups of bok choy plants were exposed to classical music, rock music, or else no music, during growth and development and the influence on yield was observed. The results r...
Article
Full-text available
Organic labels certify a product's commitment to ecological balance. However, the association between organic products and health benefits can inadvertently promote overconsumption, particularly in the case of alcoholic beverages such as red wine. In research conducted with participants from the United States, we demonstrate that consumers implicit...
Article
Full-text available
The study of chemosensory mental imagery is undoubtedly made more difficult because of the profound individual differences that have been reported in the vividness of (e.g.) olfactory mental imagery. At the same time, the majority of those researchers who have attempted to study people’s mental imagery abilities for taste (gustation) have actually...
Article
Full-text available
The emerging world of 3D food printing is reviewed. Its role in food manufacturing, including benefits and impacts, underemphasized gastrophysical aspects, and limitations are discussed. Foods can be digitally designed and physically prepared using the layer-by-layer deposition of food components, unleashing opportunities to deliver nutritionally p...
Chapter
Large amounts of money, time and effort are devoted to sensory and consumer research in food and beverage companies in an attempt to maximize the chances of new products succeeding in the marketplace. Many new products fail due to lack of consumer interest. Answers to what causes this and what can be done about it are complex and remain unclear. Th...
Article
Auditory branding is undoubtedly becoming more important across a range of sectors. One area, in particular, that has recently seen significant growth concerns the introduction of music and soundscapes that have been specifically designed to match a particular scent (what one might think of as “audio scents” or “sonic scents”). This represents an e...
Article
Full-text available
The 'Molyneux problem' is typically framed in terms of the crossmodal matching of shape information from touch to vision. Indeed, shape along with intensity have commonly been considered amodal stimulus properties/dimensions (at least by developmental researchers). However, it is important to note that what is common, if anything, to the senses dif...
Presentation
Research in the field of crossmodal correspondences has documented the widespread existence of consistent crossmodal associations between simple auditory and visual stimuli or dimensions (e.g., pitch-lightness) [see 1, for a review]. Far fewer studies have investigated the association between complex auditory stimuli and visually presented concepts...
Article
Full-text available
The latest research demonstrates that people’s perception of orange juice can be influenced by the shape/type of receptacle in which it happens to be served. Two studies are reported that were designed to investigate the impact, if any, that the shape/type of glass might exert over the perception of the contents, the emotions induced on tasting the...
Article
This conceptual paper examines the use of odours and scents in books to enhance storytelling and engage readers. While books often possess a distinctive smell linked to their material production, the intentional use of scents in books is rare. Our study focuses on scratch-and-sniff books, examining their narrative purposes and contributions to youn...
Article
Full-text available
This study explores the emerging field of 3D food printing, specifically examining consumer preferences for 3D-printed chocolate bars. While 3D printing has revolutionized various industries, the consumer acceptance of 3D-printed food remains a relatively underexplored topic. A discrete choice experiment was conducted to investigate consumer prefer...
Article
This study explores people’s trust in AI-generated food and drink recipes. AI’s ability to create unique recipes with limited ingredients attracts users seeking tailored options, especially for specialized diets or ingredient combinations. The study compares trust in AI-generated versus traditional recipes and examines the impact of dish innovative...
Article
The human face is one of the most salient regions of the body surface. Ratings of facial attractiveness, as well as judgements of a person's age, are influenced by the appearance of facial skin (not to mention the presence/absence of wrinkles). Unsurprisingly, many consumers spend huge amounts of money on trying to protect, maintain, and/or enhance...
Article
Advances in technology have brought about transformative changes in the wine industry, leading to a convergence of multisensory perception and technological innovation. This special issue explores the intersection of multisensory experiences and technology within the context of the wine industry, examining the impact that various digital technologi...
Conference Paper
Acknowledging the importance of the warmth of food, advances in digital technology have enabled post-production augmentation, and new techniques such as the dynamic steam effect can add steaming textures to food images to enhance the impression of freshness and warmth. Three online experimental studies were conducted to examine how such visually an...
Article
Full-text available
Consumer attitudes toward novel fresh herb cultivation methods, including urban farming, hydroponics, and robotic cultivation, were explored among 148 participants in the UK. Urban farming emerged as the preferred method, followed by hydroponics, while robotic cultivation was least favoured. The study tested two hypotheses regarding the influence o...
Chapter
Given the emerging global obesity crisis, there has been growing interest in multisensory means of enhancing the perceived sweetness of food and drink products that do not necessarily rely on calorific (or non-calorific/artificial) sweeteners. While the most obvious route to enhancing perceived sweetness has traditionally involved the use of ‘sweet...
Article
Full-text available
The field of sonic branding/marketing has grown rapidly in recent years, as has commercial interest in more science‐based approaches to the practice, particularly as more brands and agencies look for qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the efficacy of sonic branding. In this research note, we explore the ways in which the design and ex...
Article
Full-text available
The term ‘amodal’ is a key topic in several different research fields across experimental psychology and cognitive neuroscience, including in the areas of developmental and perception science. However, despite being regularly used in the literature, the term means something different to the researchers working in the different contexts. Many develo...
Article
Full-text available
A study designed to investigate the ability of individuals to differentiate between AI-generated and authentic food images, as well as the impact of disclosing this information on the consumer perception of the appeal of these images is reported. Two online experiments were conducted with real and AI-generated food images stretching across the unpr...
Article
Full-text available
Over recent decades, studies investigating cross-modal correspondences have documented the existence of a wide range of consistent cross-modal associations between simple auditory and visual stimuli or dimensions (e.g., pitch-lightness). Far fewer studies have investigated the association between complex and realistic auditory stimuli and visually...
Article
Full-text available
The frontoparietal attention network plays a pivotal role during working memory (WM) maintenance, especially under high-load conditions. Nevertheless, there is ongoing debate regarding whether this network relies on supramodal or modality-specific neural signatures. In this study, we used multi-voxel pattern analysis (MVPA) to evaluate the neural r...
Article
People generally associate curved and symmetrical shapes with sweetness, while associating angular and asymmetrical shapes with the other basic tastes (e.g., sour, bitter). However, these group-level taste-shape correspondences likely conceal important variation at an individual-level. We examined the extent to which individuals vary in their sensi...
Article
Full-text available
The effects of color and typeface on people’s taste expectations have been well documented in the literature on crossmodal correspondences. However, research on the interaction between different visual features when they are collectively associated with specific taste qualities is scarce. Here, an online study is presented that examines the combine...
Article
Full-text available
People process stimuli that have been arbitrarily associated with the self versus with a stranger preferentially, but congruence effects can modulate self-prioritization, as when the self is paired with, for example, symmetrical versus asymmetrical stimuli. In two experiments, we examined the interaction of self-prioritization with number magnitude...
Chapter
Full-text available
Food is more than just nutrition. Its preparation, presentation and consumption is a multifold communicative practice which includes the meal's design and its whole field of experience. How is food represented in cookbooks, product packaging or in paintings? How is dining semantically charged? How is the sensuality of eating treated in different cu...
Article
Full-text available
Service firms can use sensory cues to provide a perception of luxury in terms of quality and service. In the area of destination branding, brand names are one of the core elements of brands that help communicate their image to a consumer in the hospitality and tourism sector. Psycholinguistics research demonstrates that linguistic cues embedded wit...
Article
Full-text available
It is often suggested in the popular press that food chains deliberately introduce enticing product aromas into (and in the immediate vicinity of) their premises in order to attract customers. However, despite the widespread use of odours in the field of sensory marketing, laboratory research suggests that their effectiveness in modulating people's...
Article
Full-text available
Background and Aims There is a dearth of information about binge eating disorder (BED) among Bangladeshi university students, who may be more susceptible to BED due to the rise in unhealthy lifestyles and food habits. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence and associated factors of BED symptoms among Bangladeshi universit...
Article
Full-text available
Research shows that crossmodal semantic congruency plays a role in the orienting of spatial attention and visual search. However, the extent to which crossmodal semantic relationships summon attention automatically or necessitate of top-down modulation is still not entirely clear. To date, researchers have used varied methodologies and their outcom...
Article
Full-text available
In an effort to reduce the negative impact of clothing manufacturing on the environment, a number of international clothing brands have made strides towards engaging in more environmentally-sustainable behaviours. However, further research is still needed in order to understand the effects of these efforts on consumer perception and decision-making...
Article
Full-text available
The biases affecting people’s perception of dynamic stimuli are typically robust and strong for specific stimulus configurations. For example, representational momentum describes a systematic perceptual bias in the direction of motion for the final location of a moving stimulus. Under clearly defined stimulus configurations (e.g., specific stimulus...
Article
Full-text available
Across the millennia, and across a range of disciplines, there has been a widespread desire to connect, or translate between, the senses in a manner that is meaningful, rather than arbitrary. Early examples were often inspired by the vivid, yet mostly idiosyncratic, crossmodal matches expressed by synaesthetes, often exploited for aesthetic purpose...
Article
Full-text available
A multitude of crossmodal correspondences have now been documented between taste (gustation) and visual features (such as hue). In the present study, new analytical methods are used to investigate taste-colour correspondences in a more fine-grained manner while also investigating potential underlying mechanisms. In Experiment 1, image processing an...
Article
Full-text available
Air travel has undoubtedly become a more stressful activity for many passengers in recent years, in part as a result of the global Covid pandemic. Consequently, there has been a growing focus on how to optimize the psychological wellbeing of passengers while in the air. This narrative historical review considers how the passenger experience can pot...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction The knowledge accrued through research in the domain of crossmodal correspondences has had a significant influence on a diverse array of disciplines, including behavioral studies, neuroscience, computational modeling, and notably, marketing, with the objective of aligning sensory experiences to help shape patterns of consumer behavior....
Article
Full-text available
There has been a noticeable increase of interest in research on multisensory flavour perception in recent years. Humans are visually dominant creatures and a growing body of research has investigated how visual cues influence taste/flavour perception. At the same time, however, several null or limited findings have also been published recently; tha...
Article
Full-text available
The field of sonic branding has grown rapidly in recent years. While the majority of the developments in this area have thus far been led by practitioners, it is important to understand the cognitive principles underlying the appropriateness and efficacy of sonic branding in order to help develop design principles and practical guidelines that will...
Article
Full-text available
Perceptual similarity is one of the most fiercely debated topics in the philosophy and psychology of perception. The documented history of the issue spans all the way from Plato – who regarded similarity as a key factor for human perceptual experience and cognition – through to contemporary psychologists – who have tried to determine whether, and i...
Article
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Flowers have provided comfort to humans for millennia. Imbued with aesthetic value and symbolic meaning, they have long been present in funeral rituals, feasts, offerings, and songs. Carriers of aesthetic beauty, they are used as adornments in physical spaces, as decorations through flower arrangements, as well as appearing in paintings, ceramics,...
Article
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There has been a rapid recent growth in academic attempts to summarise, understand, and predict the taste profile matching complex images that incorporate multiple visual design features. While there is now ample research to document the patterns of vision-taste correspondences involving individual visual features (such as colour and shape curvilin...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction This research investigates consumer acceptance of alternative methods for communicating information about wine, focusing on the alignment between sensory attributes and consumer expectations. Methods A survey was administered to wine enthusiasts to assess their attitudes toward crossmodal communication. Results The findings reveal si...
Article
Sensory Individuals: Unimodal and Multimodal Perspectives provides an interdisciplinary, well-balanced, and comprehensive look at different aspects of unisensory and multisensory objects, using both nuanced philosophical analysis and informed empirical work. The research presented in this book represents the field's progression from treating neural...
Chapter
Sensory Individuals: Unimodal and Multimodal Perspectives provides an interdisciplinary, well-balanced, and comprehensive look at different aspects of unisensory and multisensory objects, using both nuanced philosophical analysis and informed empirical work. The research presented in this book represents the field's progression from treating neural...
Article
A study is reported that was designed to investigate the influence of various kinds of sonic accompaniment on consumers’ perception of a high-end luxury sports car. Using a between-participants experimental design, groups of 40 participants viewed a short car ad. The groups heard either classical music, pop music, sound effects, or listened in sile...
Article
Full-text available
Representational momentum describes the typical overestimation of the final location of a moving stimulus in the direction of stimulus motion. While systematically observed in different sensory modalities, especially vision and audition, in touch, empirical findings indicate a mixed pattern of results, with some published studies suggesting the exi...
Article
Full-text available
“Crossmodal correspondences” are the consistent mappings between perceptual dimensions or stimuli from different sensory domains, which have been widely observed in the general population and investigated by experimental psychologists in recent years. At the same time, the emerging field of human movement augmentation (i.e., the enhancement of an i...
Article
Full-text available
Non-synesthetes exhibit a tendency to associate specific shapes with particular colors (i.e., circle–red, triangle–yellow, and square–blue). Such color–shape associations (CSAs) could potentially affect the feature binding of colors and shapes, thus resulting in people reporting more binding errors in the case of incongruent, rather than congruent,...
Article
Full-text available
This narrative historical review considers the various routes to nudging consumers towards drinking more, given self-reported evidence that many people are often not adequately hydrated. This review builds on the related notion of ‘visual hunger’. Interestingly, however, while many desirable foods are associated with distinctive sensory qualities (...
Chapter
The consumption of food and drink are amongst life’s most multisensory experiences, and go beyond the sensory stimulation taking place in the mouth. The latest research reveals the complex multisensory interactions that influence consumers’ sensory and hedonic judgments, as well as their food preferences and choices. This chapter explores the conce...
Article
Objectives: To assess the impact of different types of background music on patients' anxiety and perceptions in a healthcare setting. Background: An overwhelming number of studies in the West have been conducted on the use of background music in reducing patients' anxiety and their perception of hospitals. Despite the optimism for Western classi...
Article
Full-text available
Food neophobia, described as a reluctance to eat and or avoid new food, is a personality trait that affects food choice. Despite its potential influence on an individual’s food intake, food neophobia has been poorly investigated in Bangladesh. This cross-sectional study was designed to evaluate food neophobia and its association with sociodemogr...
Article
Full-text available
A growing body of experimental research now demonstrates that neurologically normal individuals associate different taste qualities with design features such as curvature, symmetry, orientation, texture and movement. The form of everything from the food itself through to the curvature of the plateware on which it happens to be served, and from glas...
Article
Why people at any point in history may have considered a particular combination of food and drink as pairing especially well is likely due to reasons of food culture (including social and economic factors), more than the underlying food chemistry.

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