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The role of expectancy in sensory and hedonic evaluation: The case of smoked salmon ice-cream
Abstract
Our experience of flavour involves integration of multiple sensory inputs, and the hedonic evaluation of this complex flavour experience is important in determination of food choice. The appearance of food also generates expectations about food flavour, and past work suggests that these expectations if confirmed enhance the flavour experience. What is less clear is what happens when cues prior to ingestion predict a flavour which is in marked contrast to the actual flavour characteristics. To test this, we conducted three experiments where expectations about food flavour were generated by plausible but inaccurate food labels for a highly novel food, smoked-salmon ice-cream. In Experiment 1, the experience of the food in the mouth generated strong dislike when labelled as ice-cream, but acceptance when labelled as frozen savoury mousse. Labelling the food as ice-cream also resulted in stronger ratings of how salty and savoury the food was than when labelled as a savoury food. Experiment 2 confirmed these findings, and also found that an uninformative label also resulted in acceptable liking ratings. Experiment 3 explicitly tested the effect of labels on flavour expectation, and confirmed that the ice-cream label generated strong expectations of a sweet, fruity flavour, consistent with the visual appearance of the ice-cream, but in marked contrast to the flavour of salty fish. As in Experiments 1 and 2, liking was minimal when the food was tasted after the ice-cream label condition, but liking was acceptable in the other label conditions. These data show that the contrast between expected and actual sensory qualities can result in a strong negative affective response and enhancement of the unexpected sensory qualities.
... In these situations, the disconfirmation of the expectation can alter the consumer's perception of the product, either in the direction of the expectation (assimilation) or away from the expectation (contrast) [see Blackmore, Hidrio, and Yeomans 2021;Cardello 1994Cardello , 2007Cardello and Sawyer 1992;Deliza and MacFie 1996;Piqueras-Fiszman and Spence 2015; and Pramudya and Seo 2019 for reviews of expectation theory and its empirical applications]. Assimilation of product expectations occurs most frequently when the degree of disconfirmation between expectation and actual product characteristics is small, while contrast occurs most frequently when this discrepancy is large (Cardello and Sawyer 1992;Yeomans et al. 2008;Zellner, Strickhouser, and Tornow 2004). In the vast majority of research studies examining the effect of expectations on food liking and other evaluative judgments, assimilation rather than contrast occurs (Cardello 2007;Okamoto and Dan 2013;Yeomans et al. 2008). ...
... Assimilation of product expectations occurs most frequently when the degree of disconfirmation between expectation and actual product characteristics is small, while contrast occurs most frequently when this discrepancy is large (Cardello and Sawyer 1992;Yeomans et al. 2008;Zellner, Strickhouser, and Tornow 2004). In the vast majority of research studies examining the effect of expectations on food liking and other evaluative judgments, assimilation rather than contrast occurs (Cardello 2007;Okamoto and Dan 2013;Yeomans et al. 2008). This is due to the facts that, in practical food research, foods are designed to be relatively well-liked (as opposed to disliked), and that the information, claims or other contextual cues that contribute to product expectations are commonly designed to be realistic and believable to the consumer in order to nudge liking of the product in a positive direction. ...
An online survey of consumers' liking, emotional, conceptual and sustainability expectations in response to traditional, plant‐based (PB), and sustainable yoghurt product names was conducted with 1206 New Zealanders. Results showed that consumers' sensory expectations are associated with hedonic and non‐sensory expectations. Consumers' sensory, emotional, conceptual and sustainability ideations and the impact of these variables on expected liking parallel the findings from recent tests of tasted yoghurts. Per cognitive theories of predictive processing, the results support the hypothesis that judgments of sensory expectations may provide important insights into likely product perceptions. The results also support the notion that surveys of consumer product expectations can be a tool to obtain consumer insights about new products, including PB and sustainable alternatives. Since sensory expectations were associated with non‐sensory expectations, modifying the sensory attributes of PB or other innovative yoghurt products may enhance consumers' conceptualizations of these products and improve their market acceptance.
... Similarly to expectations, factors like perceived knowledge, labels and claims, and packaging design can play a role in (multi-)sensory perception (White et al., 2020;Yeomans et al., 2008). Thinking back to the cookie, for example, remembering the product description on the cookie packaging (e.g., "chocolate cookies with hazelnut filling" vs. "super-soft chocolate clouds filled with luscious hazelnut cream") or knowing who baked the cookies (e.g., your beloved grandmother versus the slightly unhygienic baker from the shop across the street) may also change your perception of the cookie's taste. ...
... In this case, perception will change in the opposite direction (i.e., contrary to what was expected), causing a contrast effect. While some empirical studies have found assimilation effects (e.g., Kuenzel et al., 2011), some have observed only contrast effects (e.g., Diamond & Lawless, 2001;Zellner et al., 2004), and some have found both (e.g., Davidenko et al., 2015;Wilcox et al., 2011;Yeomans et al., 2008). ...
Kindchenschema (or baby schema)—a set of physical features characteristic of human and animal babies, such as big, round eyes, a large head in proportion to the body, and round, protruding checks—attracts our attention, is perceived as rewarding and cute, and triggers approach motivation. While the concept of Kindchenschema has been extensively studied from the perspective of general psychology, how Kindchenschema-cues affect consumers in the context of food packaging has hardly received any scholarly attention. This is surprising, given how frequently consumers are exposed to such cues when shopping for food: kittens on beer cans, adorable puppies on boxes of chocolates, cuddly polar bears on a package of hot dog buns, to name just a few of the many examples. Considering that packaging cues can significantly affect consumers at different levels of behavior, one thus has to wonder: How do Kindchenschema-cues on food packaging affect consumers? Based on an extensive review of theoretical and empirical literature from various scientific disciplines and using different methods, this question was addressed in the present dissertation.
As the concepts of Kindchenschema and sweetness share many associations, it was proposed that consumers would apply a “Kindchenschema-sweetness”-heuristic when evaluating food products and when making decisions pertaining to these products. These propositions were investigated in five online and five laboratory experiments (Ntotal > 1,600), focusing on different consumer-related processes and outcomes.
As demonstrated by results of these studies, Kindchenschema packaging design increases consumers’ expectations about and actual perceptions of the sweetness of food products and beverages, and, contingent on high sweetness preferences, even purchase intention. Depending on the predominant taste quality of a product, Kindchenschema-stimuli also affect perceptions of congruency and processing fluency, which are higher for sweet than for salty or savory products. Consumers’ use of the aforementioned heuristic even impacts visual attention and decision-making processes under conditions of uncertainty and time pressure, further illustrating the profound effects of Kindchenschema packaging design.
Overall, this dissertation meaningfully contributes to and extends research in the fields of consumer psychology, sensory science, and marketing. The results presented in this thesis are also relevant from a practical standpoint and can guide marketing practices such as packaging design and product positioning. Last but not least, this research can be of interest from the perspective of consumer and health policy as well as from the perspective of the individual consumer.
... The degree of discrepancy between the expected and the actual taste/flavour experiences can also be understood in terms of the perceived diagnosticity of visual cues. Previous research, according to the assimilation/disconfirmation model, has demonstrated that colours do not significantly affect taste/flavour perception when there is a discrepancy between the colour-based taste/flavour expectations and the actual taste/flavour experience (e.g., Yeomans, Chambers, Blumenthal, & Blake, 2008). For example, there is a discrepancy between the expectations of sweetness from the pinkish icecream and the actual experience of savoury frozen salmon/crab bisqué (Yeomans et al., 2008). ...
... Previous research, according to the assimilation/disconfirmation model, has demonstrated that colours do not significantly affect taste/flavour perception when there is a discrepancy between the colour-based taste/flavour expectations and the actual taste/flavour experience (e.g., Yeomans, Chambers, Blumenthal, & Blake, 2008). For example, there is a discrepancy between the expectations of sweetness from the pinkish icecream and the actual experience of savoury frozen salmon/crab bisqué (Yeomans et al., 2008). In this case, the sweetness expectation from the pinkish colour is not diagnostic for tasting salty foods, and the predicted crossmodal effects (i.e., pink colour increases sweetness) are not likely to be observed. ...
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 analysis is used to evaluate whether searching online for visual images associated with specific taste words (e.g., bitter, sweet) generates outcomes with colour proportions similar to those that have been documented in the literature on taste-colour correspondences. Colour-taste matching tasks incorporating a much wider colour space than tested in previous studies, were assessed in Experiments 2 and 3. Experiments 3 and 4 assessed the extent to which the statistical regularities of the environment, as captured by food object categories, might help to explain the aforementioned correspondences and to what extent the correspondences are present in online content associated to specific tastes, respectively. Experiment 5 evaluated the role of statistical regularities in underpinning colour-taste correspondences related to the stage of ripening of fruit. Overall, the findings revealed consistent associations between specific colours and tastes, in a more nuanced manner than demonstrated in previous studies, while showing that both food object categories and the stage of fruit ripening significantly influenced colour and taste perceptions. This, in turn, suggests that people might base these correspondences on both the foods present in their environments, as well as the natural changes that they undergo as they ripe. The results are discussed in light of the different accounts suggested to explain colour-taste correspondences.
... The degree of discrepancy between the expected and the actual taste/flavour experiences can also be understood in terms of the perceived diagnosticity of visual cues. Previous research, according to the assimilation/disconfirmation model, has demonstrated that colours do not significantly affect taste/flavour perception when there is a discrepancy between the colour-based taste/flavour expectations and the actual taste/flavour experience (e.g., Yeomans, Chambers, Blumenthal, & Blake, 2008). For example, there is a discrepancy between the expectations of sweetness from the pinkish icecream and the actual experience of savoury frozen salmon/crab bisqué (Yeomans et al., 2008). ...
... Previous research, according to the assimilation/disconfirmation model, has demonstrated that colours do not significantly affect taste/flavour perception when there is a discrepancy between the colour-based taste/flavour expectations and the actual taste/flavour experience (e.g., Yeomans, Chambers, Blumenthal, & Blake, 2008). For example, there is a discrepancy between the expectations of sweetness from the pinkish icecream and the actual experience of savoury frozen salmon/crab bisqué (Yeomans et al., 2008). In this case, the sweetness expectation from the pinkish colour is not diagnostic for tasting salty foods, and the predicted crossmodal effects (i.e., pink colour increases sweetness) are not likely to be observed. ...
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; that is, studies showing either partial demonstrations or else failing to find any evidence in their data for the influence of specific visual cues on taste/flavour perception. By performing a systematic review and a critical evaluation of the literature that has been published to date, the present paper reveals whether and when visual cues (e.g., colour and shape) affect taste/flavour perception: The reviewed research demonstrates that visual cues can significantly affect taste/flavour perception under certain conditions, but that mixed, limited, and/or null results have also been reported in a number of other studies. We discuss potential moderators (the salience/attentional capture of visual cues, the strength of association between visual cues and taste/flavour, the perceived diagnosticity of visual cues regarding the signalling of taste/flavour, the evaluative malleability of food judgments) that might help to explain a number of the inconsistent findings that have appeared in the literature since 2011. Several important areas of future research in this area of inquiry are also identified.
... Food-quality inferences impact on food evaluations before and after consumption (Grewal, 1995;Yeomans et al., 2008). Food labels and the resulting quality inferences can prompt an assimilation process after consumption. ...
... Assimilation occurs when sensory BFJ expectations match experience, that is, if the expected and experienced flavour are congruent. Assimilation also happens if there is a small discrepancy between expectations and the actual experience (Yeomans et al., 2008). Importantly, improved knowledge before consumption helps consumers to have a more accurate anticipation of taste, which supports the assimilation process. ...
Purpose
This study investigates the impact of sensory food descriptors on restaurant menus on the intention to visit a restaurant and to spread positive word-of-mouth.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the signalling theory and the assimilation-contrast theory, two online experiments and one field experiment test the assumption that food descriptors prompt food-quality inferences before and after consumption, and that in both stages, food-quality inferences prompt favourable behavioural intentions.
Findings
Sensory food descriptors impact positively on behavioural intentions through quality inferences, although not all aspects of food quality mediate this effect.
Research limitations/implications
Not all four factors (deliciousness, visual attractiveness, variety and nutritiousness) prompt behavioural intentions to the same extent. While the signalling theory explains the positive impact of food-quality inferences on behavioural intentions before consumption, the assimilation-contrast theory explains the positive effect food-quality inferences have on the intention to revisit and word of mouth after consumption.
Practical implications
Managers should use either oral somatosensory descriptors alone, or in combination with flavour descriptors to prompt quality inferences and behavioural intentions.
Originality/value
The findings challenge the prevailing assumption that food descriptors addressing multiple senses have a superior effect on food-quality inferences compared to food descriptors stimulating only one sense. Instead, food descriptors referring to the texture, viscosity or mouthfeel of a dish, (i.e. oral somatosensory descriptors), impact on food-quality inferences, while adding flavour attributes did not have favourable effects.
... In line with recommendations to examine attitudes towards alternative protein sources as ingredients in processed foods (e.g., snacks, bread, or pasta; Palmieri et al., 2023), this study aims to investigate consumer acceptance of novel surimi-based products shaped to resemble pasta within a Swedish context. Nonetheless, processing food products to manipulate their physical properties raises the question of whether acceptance will then be decreased due to incongruencies between consumers' sensory expectations and actual experiences (Yeomans et al., 2008). To understand whether providing information before tasting about the content of the samples would adjust consumers' expectations, this study incorporated two conditions: blind and informed. ...
... The salmon sample, on the other hand, was perceived as more intense than the other two samples which (in combination with its sensory characteristics) could have been a contributing factor to reduced liking. In general, participants in the blind group rated the samples with lower liking scores than the informed group, with significant differences found only for the cod sample where information about the fish content may have adjusted respondents' expectations (similar to Yeomans et al., 2008). ...
... Prior research has extensively shown that previous food experiences (as stored in memory) can be triggered by all kinds of information (cues) in the environment, to shape expectations about, and subsequent perception of, a food's sensory and hedonic qualities (for reviews, see, e. g., Okamoto & Dan, 2013;Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2015;Skaczkowski et al., 2016;Cardello & Meiselman, 2018). Such cues ban be food-intrinsic, e.g, visual (e.g., Delwiche, 2012), olfactory (e.g., Smeets & Dijksterhuis, 2014), auditory (e.g., Zampini & Spence, 2005), or tactile (e.g., Pramudya & Seo, 2019), as well as food-extrinsic, e.g., food descriptions and labelling (e.g., Yeomans et al., 2008;Woods et al., 2011;Liem et al., 2012), brand names (e.g., Cavanagh & Forestell, 2013), product packaging (e.g., Ng et al., 2013), shape (e.g., Spence & Ngo, 2012) or the consumption environment (e.g., van Bergen et al., 2021). Here, we investigate to what extent conceptual and affective pairing principles are triggered by food-intrinsic and food-extrinsic cues to shape consumer expectations about (and subsequent evaluations of) their combined taste. ...
... In the case of fish sauce-ice cream combinations, evaluations from fish sauce identifiers were even more extreme than those of the Label group (in the case of fish sauce-ice cream combinations). This can be interpreted as an instance of contrast, that is, consumers maximizing the discrepancy between the expected and experienced taste (Schifferstein et al., 1999; for a similar finding, see Yeomans et al., 2008). This finding again suggests that the moment of product identification mediates its effect on consumer evaluations: where product identification after tasting can induce contrast effects (i.e. ...
Some foods and flavours go better together than others, but the success of novel food combinations is difficult to predict. The current study investigated to what extent perceptual, conceptual and affective pairing principles influence consumer evaluations of usual and unusual product combinations. Dutch consumers (N=177) evaluated two sweet-tasting food products (vanilla ice cream, chocolate custard) combined with three flavour products (coffee, soy sauce, fish sauce) in terms of congruence, liking and sensory qualities. Product combinations occurred in three conditions (between-subjects): flavour products were either mixed with the carrier foods beforehand (Premix) or presented separately from the carriers, and were either accompanied with a flavour description (Label) or not (No-Label). Results showed that consumer evaluations were influenced by a combination of perceptual (balance of intensity), conceptual (norms) and affective (surprise) pairing principles. Moreover, usual (coffee) combinations were appreciated more, and unusual (soy/fish sauce) combinations less, if flavour products were identified, but flavour identification effects were mediated by the moment of identification (before vs. after tasting). Findings highlight the cognitive nature of food pairing principles, and the power of language in predicting successful food pairings in particular.
... Many studies have proven that the labels' linguistic of the products affect the expectations and behaviours of consumers (Carnevale et al., 2017;Khan & Lee, 2020). One such study shows that the labelling of ice cream as 'savoury' reduces the liking of the product, as consumers usually expect ice cream to be sweet and flavourful (Yeomans et al., 2008). Similar results were observed during the tasting of 'indulgent' labelled shakes, and 'sensible' labelled shakes; despite being the same product, the ghrelin dropped drastically in the case of the 'indulgent' labelled shake as compared to the 'sensible' labelled shake (Crum et al., 2011). ...
In today's global markets, the constant arrival of new products represents a challenge for the food industry to offer distinct choices to consumers, primarily due to the parallel sensory attributes and pricing structures of the available food options. Innovators must employ methodologies beyond traditional sensory analysis to ensure the product's success. Researchers must, therefore, explore the entire product experience to understand its influence on consumer behaviours. Food choices are multifaceted, influenced by various factors, including individual physiological and psychological characteristics and intrinsic and extrinsic product attributes. As a result, consumers' decisions are shaped by the multisensory information derived from products they encounter in supermarkets. This review aims to comprehensively examine the factors influencing consumer food choices, from initial product encounters to consumption. The review explores the impact of repetitive tasting on the consumer's attitudes and intentions towards novel products. Additionally, the review investigates which extrinsic attributes capture consumer attention in supermarket settings. It also delves into the effects of extrinsic product attributes on both explicit and implicit emotions and expectations raised about the sensory properties of the product and, ultimately, their purchasing behaviours.
... As Priilaid (2006, p. 30) once put it: "the brain is literally tasting price and region before it even begins to consider the merits of the wine itself." Should the disparity between expectation and taste experience be too great, however, then it can lead to a negatively-valenced disconfirmation of expectation response (see Schifferstein, 2001;Yeomans, Chambers, Blumenthal, & Blake, 2008). ...
... A study of a chilled and savory smoked-salmon-flavored dish showed that its acceptance or rejection largely depended on the researchers' manipulation of the context within which it was presented. Telling participants in the study that they were consuming smoked salmon "ice cream" provoked considerable dislike for the dish, whereas it was much more acceptable when labeled as cold smoked salmon mousse (Yeomans et al., 2008a). The crucial difference here is that the information provides a way of interpreting what is being eaten as either consistent with what we expect (that a mousse can be savory) or not (that ice cream does not come in fish flavors)-based on our prior experience with multiple examples of both mousse and ice-cream. ...
... When subsequently offered some of the same food a few weeks later, the uninformed group ate less (if any) than either of the other two groups. Yeoman and colleagues' results clearly highlight the importance of menu labelling in terms of creating the appropriate sensory expectations, and avoiding the possibility that a food does not meet a customer's prior expectation (disconfirmation of expectations see also [65] ...
Tools, interfaces, methods, and practices that can help bring about a healthy, socially inclusive, and sustainable food future.
Our contemporary concerns about food range from food security to agricultural sustainability to getting dinner on the table for family and friends. This book investigates food issues as they intersect with participatory Internet culture—blogs, wikis, online photo- and video-sharing platforms, and social networks—in efforts to bring about a healthy, socially inclusive, and sustainable food future. Focusing on our urban environments provisioned with digital and network capacities, and drawing on such “bottom-up” sociotechnical trends as DIY and open source, the chapters describe engagements with food and technology that engender (re-)creative interactions.
In the first section, “Eat,” contributors discuss technology-aided approaches to sustainable dining, including digital communication between farmers and urban consumers and a “telematic” dinner party at which guests are present electronically. The chapters in “Cook” describe, among other things, “smart” chopping boards that encourage mindful eating and a website that supports urban wild fruit foraging. Finally, “Grow” connects human-computer interaction with achieving a secure, safe, and ethical food supply, offering chapters on the use of interactive technologies in urban agriculture, efforts to trace the provenance of food with a “Fair Tracing” tool, and other projects.
Contributors
Joon Sang Baek, Pollie Barden, Eric P. S. Baumer, Eli Blevis, Nick Bryan-Kinns, Robert Comber, Jean Duruz, Katharina Frosch, Anne Galloway, Geri Gay, Jordan Geiger, Gijs Geleijnse, Nina Gros, Penny Hagen, Megan Halpern, Greg Hearn, Tad Hirsch, Jettie Hoonhout, Denise Kera, Vera Khovanskaya, Ann Light, Bernt Meerbeek, William Odom, Kenton O'Hara, Charles Spence, Mirjam Struppek, Esther Toet, Marc Tuters, Katharine S. Willis, David L. Wright, Grant Young
... In particular, a high positive correlation was observed between sensory properties and food satisfaction, with enjoying the sensory properties influencing sensory satisfaction. In general, the congruence or incongruence between the sensory qualities expected and those experienced in a given situational context can affect not only aspects such as hedonics, but also satisfaction with the experience of consumption of the product (Deliza and MacFie, 1996;Yeomans et al., 2008;Yeomans and Boakes, 2016;Lee et al., 2021). ...
Purpose
The restaurants in Peru enjoy today a high level of international recognition, and the gastronomy of the country is recognised as one of the best in the world. For this reason, aspiring to excellence should be one of the priorities in the industry, which should mean, among other things, enhancing those aspects related to food with the greatest impact on the maximum level of customer satisfaction. However, to the authors knowledge, this research line has not been addressed before in the context of Peruvian restaurant, so that this research focuses on assessing the influence of food – through the concept of food values –, on the probability of reaching the maximum level of satisfaction both with the food consumption experience and with the foods consumed in restaurants in Peru. This research also takes into account differences according to the geographical origin of the customers.
Design/methodology/approach
An in-person survey of customers was conducted at the exit of different flagship restaurants with a high level of recognition and tourist orientation in the department of Ayacucho (Peru) between September and November 2022. Five restaurants acknowledged as tourist restaurants were selected for this study, of which, one has been officially granted the status of Tourist Restaurant and One Fork, in accordance with the Peruvian legal regulations. A total of 468 valid questionnaires were collected. The database was analysed using descriptive statistics, principal component factor analysis for food values, and binary logistic regressions.
Findings
The following food values factors emerged from the factorial analysis: “Image and Accessibility (IAA)”, “Ethics and Sustainability (EAS)” and “Natural Food-Safe (NFS)”. For the overall sample, IAA is more influential in the probability of obtaining the maximum level of both satisfactions (i.e. satisfaction with the food consumption experience and with the foods consumed in restaurants in Peru). In second place, EAS, as well as NFS (the latter one with a significance level of 90%), also affect, in this order, the probability of obtaining the highest level of satisfaction, but only with the foods consumed. When the geographical origin of the customer is considered (regional, national, international), interesting findings appear. For national customers, IAA is the factor with the greatest impact on the probability of achieving the maximum level of the endogenous satisfaction variables considered, followed by EAS, whilst for regional customers, only EAS is found to be influential in the probability of obtaining the maximum level of both types of satisfaction. For international customers, no factor is found to exert a significant influence.
Originality/value
This is the first study to assess the influence of food values on the maximum level of satisfaction among restaurant customers in Peru with both the food consumption experience and the foods consumed. Thus, this research represents a notable contribution to this research line, especially considering the great international reputation of Peruvian cuisine.
... Hence, if any chef is able to convey moods that the diners can feel, then they can improve the customers' satisfaction in their restaurants. However, according to [29], in their study regarding smoked salmon ice-cream, they provide evidence that expectations play a crucial role in generating responses to food stimuli; that is, the food is expected to have a specific colour, flavour and taste. However, if any of these qualities differs from the common standards, then they could be disgusting. ...
The image of a tourist destination can be influenced by any of multitude of aspects, one of the most important being that of gastronomy, within which it is well-known that colour plays a major role. An exploratory study into how the perception of food colour affects the mood of Latino-American and Spanish people is presented to this end. A survey is carried out that shows photographs of dishes and inquiries as to the moods triggered in the participant. The analysis of the results of this survey confirms that colour modifies the perception of food. As a consequence, choosing food colours that induce positive moods in people can be helpful in attracting gastronomic tourists to a specific destination.
... A common psychological pathway to increase the liking of a new food is to combine it with a known one. It was shown that masking insects in familiar products increases the willingness to try them because the anticipation is good [25,26]. Tan et al. (2015) found that insect eaters and non-eaters (either from Thailand or the Netherlands) were more willing to try insect foods when these are invisible in the product (such as grounded) and more similar to typical foods than when they are just covered or completely recognizable [25]. ...
Entomophagy is directly connected with culture, explaining why it is commonly rejected in Western countries. Due to increased meat consumption in recent years with its associated negative impacts on health and sustainability, the development of products based on alternative protein sources has become urgent. The larval form of Tenebrio molitor (mealworm) has the potential to substitute meat as it requires less resources and produces less emissions compared to other forms of meat production. Therefore, in this project we have aimed to develop pasta sauces with differing mealworm contents based on a common meat sauce and to test the acceptance with 91 consumers in Austria. Three sauces (100% mealworm, 50% mealworm and 50% meat, 100% meat) were developed and tested using a 9-point hedonic scale for acceptance, and the CATA (Check-All-That-Apply) method was integrated to also receive descriptive information. The analysis of the liking data revealed that the liking for the hybrid sauce with meat and mealworm content was comparable to the meat sauce (6.9 ± 1.8. vs. 6.5 ± 1.8, p > 0.05). Less liked was the sauce with the highest mealworm content (5.7 ± 1.8, p < 0.05). The CATA analysis demonstrated the strongest positive effects on the mean in terms of how much the products were liked for the attribute “fleshy” (0.8). On the other hand, the attributes “brownish” (−0.9) or “mushy” (−1.0) had the strongest negative effects on the mean of the liking of products. We have seen that meat cannot be substituted by mealworm immediately and completely. The results suggest a stepwise substitution and the further adaptation of products regarding the (negative and positive effecting) attributes to increase consumer acceptance.
... However, whenever the discrepancy becomes too large, contrast may instead be observed (e.g., Anderson, 1973;Cardello, 2007;Deliza & MacFie, 1996). This latter theory has been used by food science researchers to explain expectation-based effects on consumer response to a variety of foods and drinks (Yeomans et al., 2008). ...
The structure of the book is designed to provide a comprehensive exploration of the principles of neuromarketing and their application to the wine production industry in the Abruzzo region of Italy. The book is divided into several sections that build on each other to create a coherent narrative and provide a thorough analysis of the topic.
Section 2, introduces the concept of decision-making and its relevance to marketing, psychology, and neuroscience. This section also discusses the emerging field of neuroeconomics, which combines principles from neuroscience and economics to study decision-making processes.
Section 3, explores the science of neuromarketing, including its history, tools, and methods. This section also discusses the benefits of using neuromarketing to uncover hidden motivations of consumers and gain insights into their emotional and cognitive responses to marketing stimuli.
Section 4, focuses on individual differences in consumer behavior and preferences and how they can be studied using neuromarketing techniques. This section also explores the role of aesthetic properties of products in consumer decision-making.
Section 5, delves into the role of color in decision-making processes, including its properties, perception, and preference. This section also discusses the difficulties associated with studying color and its use in marketing.
Section 6, examines the wine industry and its properties, as well as consumer preferences in relation to wine. This section argues that wine is an ideal product for neuromarketing research due to its unique properties and consumer appeal.
Section 7, explores the concept of cross modal correspondence, which refers to the relationship between different sensory modalities such as color, taste, and aroma. This section discusses color associations and meanings, as well as their relationship with emotions and consumer expectations.
Section 8, focuses specifically on the use of color in the wine industry, including explicit and implicit consumer preferences. This section presents the results of empirical research on the impact of label color on consumer behavior and provides a detailed discussion of the findings.
Section 9, concludes the book and discusses potential new directions for research and the limitations of the current study. Finally, the book ends with a section on references and supplementary materials.
Overall, the structure of the book is designed to provide a comprehensive analysis of the principles of neuromarketing and their application to the wine industry, with a particular emphasis on the role of color in consumer decision-making processes.
... The chroma values indicate a slightly lower saturation, which could produce a positive visual appeal. A good visual appeal is important for consumer acceptability (Yeomans et al., 2008). The hue angle (h • ) describes the angle at which the colour values (a- 4.53 ± 0.9 Heat coagulation at pH 4 (%) ...
... On the other hand, product-extrinsic sources of information are those that are somehow related or associated with the product, but are not physically a part of that which is tasted or consumed, such as, for example, a product's labelling, packaging, any tableware, and the location in which it happens to be served or consumed [ 13 ] (see Fig. 1 ). Importantly, both product-intrinsic and -extrinsic anticipatory cues can help to set up strong expectations in the mind of the consumer about what they are about to taste/experience [ 12 ] and can ultimately affect how a product's flavor is perceived, both sensorially and hedonically [ 12,14,15,16,17 ]. ...
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 concept of crossmodal correspondences in order to understand the means by which anticipatory food cues can affect the perceptual outcome of a flavor for the consumer. It also reviews the procedures and techniques that have been most commonly used to investigate multisensory stimulation and how anticipatory sensory cues ultimately affect the overall consumption experience. The remainder of this chapter summarizes a couple of recently conducted studies that were designed to assess crossmodal effects on consumers’ sensory and hedonic responses to coffee under realistic tasting conditions (i.e., real-life settings). The use of contexts that are sufficiently realistic and thus relevant to the consumer is of great utility in consumer research.Key wordsMultisensory perceptionCrossmodalityExtrinsic cuesConsumptionFood
... In the context of a modernist meal, the incongruent use of color may well be appealing; it may sometimes even be expected by diners (see Spence & Youssef, 2018; though see Yeomans et al., 2008;Zellner et al., 2004). However, it is important to note that the consumer's response to the incongruent use of color is context dependent (see Peng et al., 2022). ...
While there has long been public concern over the use of artificial/synthetic food colors, it should be remembered that food and drink products (e.g., red wine) have been purposefully colored for millennia. This narrative historical review highlights a number of reasons that food and drink have been colored, including to capture the shopper's visual attention through to signaling the likely taste/flavor. Over the course of the last century, there has, on occasion, also been interest in the playful, or sometimes even deliberately discombobulating, use of food coloring by modernist chefs and others. The coloring (or absence of color) of food and drink can, though, sometimes also take on more of a symbolic meaning, and, in a few cases, specific food colors may acquire a signature, or branded (i.e., semantic) association. That said, with food color being associated with so many different potential “meanings,” it is an open question as to which meaning the consumer will associate with any given instance of color in food, and what role context may play in their decision. Laboratory‐based sensory science research may not necessarily successfully capture the full range of meanings that may be associated with food color in the mind of the consumer. Nevertheless, it seems likely that food color will continue to play an important role in dictating consumer behavior in the years to come, even though the visual appearance of food is increasingly being mediated via technological means, including virtual and augmented reality.
... 'soy' [10] or 'organic' [11]) or a false name (e.g. 'ice-cream' for salmon mousse [12]) affects not only liking but also sensory perception (i.e. its perceived bitterness, graininess and fattiness). In olfaction, participants will shift their ratings of pleasantness to be congruent with the effect (Positive, Neutral and Negative) linked to the odour's name [4,13]. ...
Can a name (i.e. verbal context) change how we react to and perceive an object? This question has been addressed several times for chemosensory objects, but appears unanswered for touch. To address this, two studies were run. In each, we allocated participants to a Positive, Neutral or Negative Group, and asked them to touch the same four objects, twice—first, named by the experimenter according to their Group-name, and second, named by the participant. Participants were timed as they touched and rated the objects on pleasantness and disgust. Negative-named objects were touched for shorter durations, and rated more negatively, than neutral-named objects, and positive-named objects were touched for the longest and rated most positively. In the second presentation, most objects (greater than 90%) were named by participants in accordance with their assigned Group-names. The similarity of these findings to chemosensory verbal context effects and their mechanistic basis is discussed.
... We chose ice cream as the product for Study 4 because ice cream is generally expected to be predominantly sweet (e.g., Yeomans et al., 2008). A total of 133 ice cream brands (i.e., all brands are ice cream) were selected from the POS data. ...
We test how and why food taste and brand personality interactively influence consumer evaluations. Although food branding is a substantial and large market, studies on food taste and brand personality have only been conducted separately. Across four studies (including one real-brand study), the present study aimed to reveal the association between brand personality and tastes and how congruency between these two may influence brand evaluations. Sincerity as a brand personality trait is reliably associated with sweet tastes, regardless of culture, measures of brand personality, and experimental designs. Process evidence suggests that the relationship between sincerity and sweet foods increases perceived congruence, which leads to positive brand attitudes. Moreover, brand sincerity is positively associated with sweet food sales. These findings reveal a novel link between food taste and brand personality and provide practical implications for food branding.
... This is especially the case when combined with ice cream texture or a beverage. Thus, in an experiment carried out by Yeomans et al. (2008) with pink-coloured ice cream, participants were disappointed with a salmon savoury taste when not informed what to expect. The same salmon sample has obtained high grades of acceptance when promoted as an innovative savoury ice cream. ...
... Bear in mind here only how in perception threshold studies, participants are normally presented with water-based pure salt solutions, whereas most food products represent complex matrices, which may result in multi-factor perceptual interactions. One of the challenges here in a real-world context is that the way in which a food is labelled (or described) can also modulate rated saltiness as a function of expectations or even disconfirmed expectations [59,60]. ...
This narrative historical review examines the wide range of approaches that has been trialled/suggested in order to reduce the consumption of salt. While sodium is an essential micronutrient, there is widespread evidence that high levels of consumption are leading to various negative health outcomes. This review summarises the evidence relating to the various approaches that have been put forward to date to help reduce salt consumption over the years, while also highlighting a number of important questions that remains for future research. Solutions to reducing salt consumption include everything from the gradual reduction in salt in foods through to the reduction in the number/size of holes in saltshakers (what one might consider a behavioural nudge). Physico-chemical solutions have included salt replacers, such as monosodium glutamate (MSG) through to the asymmetric distribution of salt in processed (e.g., layered) foods. A wide range of sensory approaches to modulating expected and perceived saltiness have also been suggested, including the use of salty aromas, as well as suggesting the use of colour cues, sonic seasoning, and even textural primes. It is currently unclear whether different salty aromas can be combined to increase odour-induced taste enhancement (OITE) effectiveness. In the years ahead, it will be interesting to assess how long such solutions remain effective, as well as whether different solutions can be combined to help reduce salt consumption without having to compromise on taste/flavour
... It is possible that the participants in the Japanese environment expected the Japanese beverage and the participants in the Western environment expected the Western beverage. In the evaluation of food/beverage, the effect of expectation may work to minimize the difference from the expectation (assimilation) or to emphasize the difference from the expectation (contrast) (Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2015;Yeomans, Chambers, Blumenthal, & Blake, 2008). Although the results of this study cannot be interpreted as an assimilation or contrast effect per se, they suggest that there is a gender difference in whether one evaluates beverages better, as consistent with the expectation. ...
In the present experiment, the participants tasted high‐intensive bitter and low‐intensive bitter beverages under one of the following four conditions: drinking green tea or coffee in either a Japanese or a Western environment. The participants evaluated the beverage and the environment. The results revealed the following interactions. (1) Given the combination of the intensive bitter coffee and the Western environment, the beverage and environment congruency facilitated the beverage evaluations for “Deliciousness” and “Wanting to drink more”. (2) Women tended to evaluate beverages as more delicious and desired when the beverages matched the environment, compared with when they did not match. (3) Participants who drank coffee perceived the environment to be colder than participants who drank green tea. These results indicate that the social and cultural background of the Japanese consuming a beverage may modulate multisensory interaction in the evaluation of a beverage and the environment. Our findings in this research revealed that persons involved in the design of the eating and drinking environment, that is from restaurant managers, architects, and interior designers to persons who think about the dining room at their home, may produce tastier food consumption by designing the environment in a multisensory way. For example, when designing space to serve foods and beverages that have cultural elements, creating a cultural environment that is congruent with the foods may result in a better eating experience. Since multisensory influences on the deliciousness of food can be affected by the social and cultural background of the consumer, the aforementioned people need to have a sufficient understanding of the object persons they serving the meal.
... Вражає той факт, що певні зародки "поведінки" та "характеру" існують вже у… одноклітинних організмів! Так, починаючи з досліджень Герберта Спенсера Дженнінґса (Jennings 1906 (Hildebrand et al., 2021), депривація (Kristeller & Bowman, 2015), праймінг, очікування (Yeomans et al., 2008). Окрім психогенетичних індивідуальних відмінностей та ситуації, на процесуальну здатність індивіда насолоджуватись винагородою також впливає стан його наскрізних психічних процесів (в першу чергу -уваги, особливо коли йдеться про складні стимули (Hildebrand et al., 2021)). ...
Ця стаття присвячена дослідженню рис особистості крізь призму здобутків сучасної нейронауки, а саме: нейропсихологічній природі екстраверсії. Досліджено дані, які стосуються психогенетичних, нейрофізіологічних та нейрохімічних механізмів виникнення екстраверсії. Нейропсихологічні механізми природи екстраверсії розглянуті в контексті психологічних теорій особистості. З’ясовано, що екстраверсія, як нейропсихологічний конструкт, є винятково важливою для побудови «гедоністичного профілю» особистості. Прослідковується зв’язок між психогенетичними дослідженнями екстраверсії, нейропсихологічними моделями особистісної риси екстраверсії (а також її аспектів: асертивності та ентузіазму) та індивідуальними особливостями процесингу задоволення. Виокремлено складові «гедоністичного профілю» особистості, які дозволяють оцінити індивідуальні відмінності у чутливості до винагороди.
... qualities of the product. Furthermore, depending on whether they are confirmed or disconfirmed (Schifferstein 2001;Spence 2012), such expectations may actually bias a consumer's subsequent perception of the stimulus in a variety of different ways (Yeomans et al. 2008). But it is not just that vision has temporal precedence over the majority of other food-related cues; it also tends to be the dominant sense when it comes to flavor identification. ...
... 9,45,46 Food science researchers have used this theory to explain consumer responses to various food and beverage products based on expected effects. 47 However, the level of personal hedonic changes depends on the degree of hedonism ultimately experienced by the hedonist. Hedonic changes depend on the perceived difference between the expected product and the perceived physical product (that is, the perceived uncertainty). ...
The color of food packaging has an important influence on consumers' purchasing decisions. This study takes popcorn packaging as an example to explore the impact of packaging color on consumers' taste perception and preference evaluation. Sixty participants were invited to participate in the experiment. Four experimental package design colors (red, blue, yellow, and white) and three popcorn tastes (sweet, salty, and tasteless) were used to evaluate whether the pretasting and posttasting evaluations were affected by package color and product taste. The results of this study indicated that (1) there is a contrast between expected psychological and actual perceptions and that (2) yellow and red packaging are suitable for a sweet product, blue is suitable for a salty product, and white is suitable for a tasteless product. The research results can help designers and manufacturers understand the effects of packaging color and achieve the design conditions required by consumers. Packaging color affects consumer taste perception and preference.
... By incorporating raw fish to already familiar ingredients such as rice and vegetables, sushi greatly facilitated the adoption of uncooked fish in North America (Looy et al., 2014). Likewise, familiar preparations -such as burgers, pasta, or muffins -can also improve consumers' willingness to try unknown foods, as they can trigger positive sensory expectations (Tuorila et al., 1998;Yeomans et al., 2008). ...
As food supply practices must adapt to the reality of limited natural resources, we must find alternative solutions to meet the dietary needs of a growing world population. This dissertation reports on the viability of edible insects as a solution to globally improve food security. Compared to conventional livestock, insect production requires less feed, water, and space while generating less pollution and waste. Moreover, circular insect farming methods can allow the reintroduction into the food chain of various types of clean and traceable organic residues in order to produce sustainable animal proteins within cities, therefore improving food sovereignty at the local scale. However, the general aversion for edible insects represents a major barrier that must be alleviated.
This dissertation identifies strategies to efficiently and sustainably introduce insect farming and consumption at the city scale. The introductory chapter of this thesis provides the rationale behind my research, framing its research area and explaining its key objectives. The second chapter is oriented towards consumer behavior as it focuses on the challenges related to marketing insect food products, paying particular attention to the motivations driving food choices. The third chapter exposes the results of both a national survey I developed aiming to assess the perceptions and attitudes of Canadians towards entomophagy (i.e. insect consumption) as well as insect tastings I organized in order to develop a better understanding of Quebeckers’ preferences for edible insect products. The fourth chapter exposes an action research project I led involving high school students delving on exposure and familiarization with edible insects as an avenue to positively change their perception towards entomophagy. The fifth chapter discusses how following industrial ecology principles in insect farms can allow to lower both production costs and environmental impacts. Finally, the concluding chapter holistically reflects on entomophagy and entotechnologies (i.e. insect farming practices) as sustainable solutions to reduce the ecological impacts linked to the production and consumption of animal proteins – tackling food waste and thus reducing the carbon footprint associated to the management of rapidly decomposable organic materials.
Significance
E-cigarettes with candy-themed marketing are implicated in decisions to first try e-cigarettes but have unknown effects on the experience of vaping. We compared adults’ perceived appeal and sensory attributes after self-administering flavoured e-cigarettes in experimentally manipulated packaging with candy-themed versus standard marketing. We also assessed effect modification by salt vs free-base nicotine formulation.
Methods
Adults who currently used e-cigarettes and/or cigarettes (N=72; age M(SD)=31.4 (12.8) years) completed single-puff self-administrations from eight individually-packaged pods containing fruit or dessert-flavoured e-liquid via staff-guided video sessions. For each e-liquid flavour, we custom-manufactured packaging with standard (eg, ‘mango’; mango fruit image) and candy (eg, ‘mango gummy bear’; gummy bear image) marketing versions, which we varied within-subject (four pods candy; four pods standard). After participants opened the package and vaped the pod inside, they rated its sensory attributes and appeal (0–100 scale). Participants were randomised between subjects to salt or free-base ~2.3% nicotine in all pods.
Results
Marketing theme had no significant main effects on outcomes. Marketing theme × nicotine formulation interactions were significant; candy-themed (vs standard) packaging elevated composite appeal (B difference [estimated mean difference between marketing themes] =7.7), liking (B difference =8.4), and sweetness (B difference =5.7) ratings in free-base but not salt nicotine formulations. Marketing theme did not affect smoothness, harshness and bitterness ratings regardless of nicotine formulation.
Conclusion
Candy-themed marketing may heighten the appeal and sweet sensory experience of vaping flavoured free-base nicotine e-cigarettes. While marketing restrictions are predominantly intended to prevent e-cigarette initiation, candy-themed marketing restrictions could also prevent persistent use by lowering the appeal of flavoured free-base nicotine e-cigarettes.
Since whisky can be described as a blend of chemicals, and since each chemical ingredient has its own aroma, it seems reasonable to think that the flavor of whisky is determined by its chemical constitution. This Democritean perspective has been studied by flavor chemists and is the main focus of this chapter. Chapter 9 expands this view by considering the possible role of microscopic structures.
We perceive color everywhere and on everything that we encounter in daily life. Color science has progressed to the point where a great deal is known about the mechanics, evolution, and development of color vision, but less is known about the relation between color vision and psychology. However, color psychology is now a burgeoning, exciting area and this Handbook provides comprehensive coverage of emerging theory and research. Top scholars in the field provide rigorous overviews of work on color categorization, color symbolism and association, color preference, reciprocal relations between color perception and psychological functioning, and variations and deficiencies in color perception. The Handbook of Color Psychology seeks to facilitate cross-fertilization among researchers, both within and across disciplines and areas of research, and is an essential resource for anyone interested in color psychology in both theoretical and applied areas of study.
Research has shown that speakers of different languages may differ in their cognitive and perceptual processing of reality. A common denominator of this line of investigation has been its reliance on the sensory domain of vision. The aim of our study was to extend the scope to a new sense—taste. Using as a starting point crosslinguistic differences in the category boundaries of edible bulbs, we examined whether monolingual speakers of English and bilingual speakers of Norwegian and English were influenced by language‐specific categories during tasting. The results showed no evidence of such effects, not even for the Norwegian participants in an entirely Norwegian context. This suggests that crosslinguistic differences in visual perception do not readily generalize to the domain of taste. We discuss the findings in terms of predictive processing, with particular reference to trigeminal stimulation (a central tasting component) and the interplay between chemosensory signals and top‐down linguistic modulation.
Imagine a lunch buffet with different appetizers, followed by a selection of main courses, and a range of puddings for dessert. You cannot try everything, so you pick the foods that look best: some tart-looking cucumber salad to start and a creamy ragout for the main course, making sure to leave room for dessert. When you finally dig in, you instantly realize your mistake: the ragout is oversalted, the cucumbers are slimy, and you wish you had gone for the tomato salad and lasagna instead. The food that you thought you liked turned out not to be pleasant at all.
This situation illustrates the fundamental information gap between the sensory information from the outside world that shapes our motivation to choose one food over another (anticipatory food perception) and the sensory experiences within the mouth that determine the pleasure we feel while eating (consummatory food perception). Our brain typically fills this sensory gap seamlessly, forming accurate predictions about the flavours about to come. Only on the rare occasions where this process fails do we become aware of the imperfect predictive link between the sensory cues involved in anticipation and consumption. This chapter gives an overview of the separate sensory integration processes underlying anticipatory and consummatory food processing, how the relationship between these channels is learned and how it is represented in the brain.
In the realm of healthy dietary choices about reducing sweetness perception, the exploration of crossmodal effects stands as a frequently employed approach. Both music and color can independently influence flavor evaluation and gustatory experience by eliciting emotions. However, less research has been done on the effects of audio-visual crossmodal interactions on sweetness expectations and perceptions. The present study conducted two experiments delving into the crossmodal effect on sweetness expectation and perception of milk tea by manipulating the emotional valence of music and packaging color. The results showed that positive (vs. negative) music led to higher sweetness expectations and perceptions for milk teas with neutral packaging color. Irrespective of music, participants had higher sweetness expectations for milk tea with positive or neutral (vs. negative) packaging colors. The congruence of valence between music and packaging color influenced sweetness perception. Positive (vs. negative) music correlated with a sweeter perception when the packaging color was positive. Exposed to negative music, subjects showed a higher sweetness perception with negative (vs. positive) packaging colors. In conclusion, the results suggest that the valence of music and packaging color crossmodally influence consumers’ evaluation of milk tea, and it differs depending on whether it was tasted. Thus, this study has demonstrated the crossmodal influence of music and packaging color, providing valuable implications for healthy eating and marketing applications.
Edible insects are healthy and sustainable but are rejected as food in Western populations due to disgust. We tested the effectiveness of written interventions to reduce disgust and increase intake of whole crickets. Cricket acceptance after reading a descriptive social norm or food preparation intervention passage was compared with a control passage, and an unfamiliar but non-disgusting food (leblebi, roasted chickpeas). Participants (N = 120) were randomised to one of four conditions (control + crickets, food preparation + crickets, social norm + crickets and control + leblebi). Outcome measures included taste pleasantness, desire to eat, food intake and, to measure disgust, self-report disgust, tactile sensitivity and latency to eat. In the control condition, crickets were rejected due to disgust and low desire to eat. In comparison, in the social norm condition, crickets were rated as tasting more pleasant, more desirable, and less disgusting, and intake was greater. The food preparation passage had a small but positive effect on cricket intake. For the first time, this study shows that a descriptive social norm can affect eating behaviour even when a food is disgusting; however, a food preparation intervention cannot overcome high disgust. The pattern of results suggested that expected and perceived taste pleasantness affects disgust. Therefore, taste quality and normalising consumption are targets for promoting acceptance of insects, and probably other novel, sustainable foods.
To better understand food-disgust, we investigated the long-standing theory that disgust towards a food causes it to taste 'bad'. To induce disgust, participants were served cookies labelled as containing crickets (Study 1); or served whole crickets versus novel (leblebi) and familiar (peanuts) control foods (Study 2). Participants (Study 1: N = 80; Study 2: N = 90) tasted the foods and rated taste pleasantness, desire to eat, disgust and, in Study 1, 16 taste attributes (e.g., nuttiness). Latency to eat and food intake were included as behavioural indicators of disgust. In both studies disgusting foods were presumed to taste bad, but this was disconfirmed after tasting - disgust did not cause the food to taste bad. Nonetheless, the taste attribute results suggested increased attention towards cricket flavours/textures. Furthermore, desire to eat and intake results suggested that disgust, but not novelty, was associated with reduced food wanting. Even if a disgust-inducing food tastes OK, people do not 'want' to consume it. By offering novel insights into our understanding of disgust, these results may stimulate progress in new avenues of emotion research, as well as informing the development of methods to reduce disgust and increase the acceptance of novel, sustainable, foods. For example, interventions should encourage tasting to overcome negative expectations of taste pleasantness and should tackle low levels of wanting, e.g., by normalising consumption of the target food.
The key role of packaging in modulating consumer perception and response has led to a growing scientific interest over the years. However, the multidisciplinary nature of packaging research means that different approaches are being used to study it, which can be intimidating for those seeking to get started in this field. This chapter aims to facilitate this task by summarizing the basic information necessary to prepare an experiment on this topic. To that end, a brief review of the literature devoted to packaging within the field of consumer research is presented, in order to provide readers unfamiliar with the subject with a theoretical framework that encompasses the main insights and lines of research related to new packaging and concept testing. Next, the key points that characterize a packaging research experiment are discussed, summarizing the characteristics, opportunities, and limitations of the most common methods and experimental designs. Overall, this chapter is aimed at both design practitioners and academics interested in packaging research, seeking to provide them with the resources and basic knowledge necessary to start their own research.Key wordsPackagingIndustrial designConsumer researchPerceptionExpectations
In sensory evaluation, trained panelists are recommended to accurately assess complex flavors. However, many researchers assume that “simpler” qualities such as basic tastes can be reliably assessed by untrained individuals. In this work, we tested whether untrained participants would conflate the basic tastes of “bitter” and “sweet” with the hedonic aspects of an aroma by using Jelly Belly BeanBoozled® candies. These products are sweet candies which have either pleasant (e.g., coconut) or unpleasant (e.g., sour milk) aromas. In the first test, all participants rated candies with their nose open. In the second test, all participants rated candies with nose closed immediately followed by nose open. Both experiments demonstrated that sweetness was rated higher for good beans than bad beans and bitterness was rated higher for bad beans than good beans when rated with nose open. Closing the nose eliminated this difference, as all beans were actually sweet and not bitter. Researchers should use caution when interpreting sensory ratings from untrained participants, even for “simple” sensations such as basic tastes. While it is often necessary to use untrained participants, these individuals may conflate the hedonic aspects of the product with other sensory qualities.
Picky eating is characterized by a limited intake and avoidance of foods which can increase health risks, including nutritional deficiencies and health related disease. It is therefore important to understand the factors that act to ‘push and pull’ such picky eating behaviour. Previous research has demonstrated that the smell and texture of food can affect taste perception in picky eaters, but little is known about other multisensory attributes. In the study here, we aimed to examine whether colour influences perception of food in picky eaters. Participants (N=47) were categorized as Picky or Non-Picky Eaters on the basis of their responses to a standardized measure of Food Neophobia (FNS). They then completed a taste sensitivity test (PROP) followed by a food tasting task, where they sampled the same snack served in three different coloured (red, blue, white) bowls. Results revealed that both the perceived saltiness and desirability of the snack were influenced by colour in the Picky but not Non-Picky Eaters. Specifically, the snack was rated as higher in saltiness in the red and blue versus white bowl condition and least desirable when served in the red bowl. These findings are discussed with reference to more specific measures of categorising picky eating and provide preliminary evidence that the perception of food in Picky Eaters depends on the serving receptacle colour and offer potentially simple interventions for those with a restricted food repertoire.
Memory processes may have several roles in appetite regulation. Here we examine one such role, derived from the animal literature, in which satiety cues lead to the inhibition of rewarding food-related memories. We tested this idea over three studies (n's of 58, 67, 50 respectively), by presenting participants with visual or verbal food cues, and asking them to describe what these foods were like to eat. This recollection task was undertaken hungry and sated. The resulting recollections were then coded and contrasted across state. Irrespective of state, participants took the same time to make their recollections, they were of similar length and included the same amount of sensory detail and affective content. However, in all three studies, sated recollections tended to include more reports about how filling a food would be. This increase in reports of food fillingness across state, was significantly correlated with increases in reports of stomach distension across state. While these results are consistent with the operation of memory inhibition, a further possibility is considered, whereby interoceptive satiety cues are integrated into food-related recollections (but not other recollections) to form a memory-inteorception-combination, thereby drawing attention to the consequences of eating when sated.
Flavor perception has several characteristics: (1) smell is a key part, but there is little awareness of its role; (2) central interactions occur between smell, taste, and somatosensation; (3) flavor is localized to the mouth; (4) discontinuities in odorant delivery are not noticed; and (5) there is limited access to some parts. Together, these suggest flavor is partially holistic, with odor and taste forming a common sensory channel in the mouth. One reason for this mode of perception is food choice. Flavor memories can support the identification of safe and nutritious food via: (1) recovery of the flavor percept—thus including taste (and somatosensory) experiences—via sniffing; (2) visual priming of flavor expectancies; and (3) affective reaction to flavor, reflecting the consequences of previous bouts of ingestion (e.g., sickness). These allow food acceptability to be assessed prior to ingestion, as well as supporting the expectancies to detect adulterated food.
Embedded in everyday practices, food can be a rich resource for interaction design. This article focuses on eating experiences to uncover how bodily, sensory, and socio-cultural aspects of eating can be better leveraged for the design of user experience. We report a systematic literature review of 109 papers, and interviews with 18 professional chefs, providing new understandings of prior HFI research, as well as how professional chefs creatively design eating experiences. The findings inform a conceptual framework of designing for user experience leveraging eating experiences. These findings also inform implications for HFI design suggesting the value of multisensory flavor experiences, external and internal sensory stimulation and deprivation, aspects of eating for communicating meaning, and designing with contrasting pleasurable and uncomfortable experiences. The article concludes with six charts as novel generative design tools for HFI experiences focused on sensory, emotional, communicative, performative, and temporal experiences.
In a test of the hypothesis that events which disconfirm expectancies will be perceived as unpleasant, Ss tasted a random sequence of sweet and bitter solutions. On the basis of certain signals given by the E, they developed expectancies or hypotheses about whether the next solution would be bitter or sweet. On trials when the Ss' expectancies were disconfirmed due to incorrect signals, the solutions were judged to taste more unpleasant. Thus, a bitter solution was rated more bitter; a sweet solution was rated less sweet. The results were interpreted in terms of Festinger's theory of cognitive dissonance. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
Four experiments were conducted to assess the effect of food color on flavor identification of noncarbonated beverages and to assess the interactive effect of food color and flavor levels on the perceived flavor intensity and hedonic quality of beverages and cake. Results showed that color masking dramatically decreased flavor identification of fruit-flavored beverages, while atypical colors induced incorrect flavor responses that were characteristically associated with the atypical color. In addition, the color level of beverages had significant effects on their overall acceptability, acceptability of color and of flavor, as well as on flavor intensity. The same results were shown with cake samples, with the exception that a significant interaction of color and flavor level was observed on overall acceptability. Correlational analysis on the subjective dimensions showed that the overall acceptability of both the beverage and cake products was more closely associated with ratings of flavor acceptability than with ratings of color acceptability. In addition, a test of the effect of colorant safety information showed that such information did not decrease any aspect of a product's acceptability.
Expectations are generated by a variety of factors. We indicate a flow chart for the role of expectations at the point of choice and in influencing sensory perception at the time of consumption. We review the sparse literature on how advertising, packaging and information generate sensory expectations. The application of various theories to explain the observed effects of sensory expectations are reviewed. There is overwhelming evidence for assimilation-contrast effect, although no studies have been specifically designed to detect it. Finally we review the reasons why individuals might differ in the way that expectations influence sensory perception. These reasons include ideas from persuasion literature and private body consciousness. A number of behavioral hypothesis that follow from these theories are developed.
A panel of 123 consumers from Dijon and Nantes rated their liking for six orange juices (two pure juices, two juices made with concentrate and two nectars) in a blind condition, and then with information about the type of juice and packaging. Expectations induced by the information were also measured and the effect of this expectation on their evaluations were studied, as well as the role of the price on the purchase behaviour when the consumers were placed in a situation of choice under economical constraint. When discrepancy between blind rating and expectation was large, consumers generally moved their ratings towards expectation when they tasted a product in presence of information revealing an assimilation effect. We observed that even under the lowest economical constraint, consumers did not only choose their preferred product. The percentage of expenditure allocated to the first ranked product decreased as price increased and consumers partly transferred their choices to the second ranked product and even to the third ranked product.
Presents a model arguing that affect and emotion are often formed in an expectation-driven fashion. A pilot study and 2 experiments manipulated undergraduate Ss' affective expectations (e.g., how funny they expected a set of cartoons to be) and whether Ss' expectations were confirmed (e.g., whether the cartoons really were funny). When the value of a stimulus was consistent with an affective expectation, people formed evaluations relatively quickly. Even when the value of a stimulus was discrepant from an affective expectation, people sometimes assimilated the value of the stimulus to their expectations. Other times, such as when making a more fine-grained evaluation of the cartoons, people noticed that they were discrepant from their affective expectations. Under these conditions, people appeared to have more difficulty forming preferences. They took longer to evaluate and spent more time thinking about the cartoons.
The range-frequency theory is concerned with category judgments, like "good" and "bad," or "large," "medium," and "small." A specific model derives the judgments from 2 basic assumptions: (a) The judge divides his psychological range into subranges whose relative sizes are independent of the stimulus conditions; and (b) he employs the alternative categories with equal frequency. The model uses judgments obtained when stimuli are presented with equal frequency to predict the judgments when stimuli are presented with unequal frequencies. These data are also used to evaluate the weighted-mean model for adaptation level. It is concluded that category judgments are more adequately explained by the range-frequency theory than by the theory of adaptation level.
The relationship between the attitude of the recipient and the position advocated in a communication was studied under conditions where a communicator not known to subject presents a point of view on a controversial issue which differs from that of subject by varying amounts." The topic discussed was prohibition of alcohol. The Ss came from a dry state where this was a lively issue. It was suggested that "the relative distance between subject's own attitude and communication along with subject's latitudes of acceptance and rejection for various stands on the issue may provide a basis for predicting reactions to communication and susceptibility to change." 20 references.
Forty three subjects were invited under the pretence that they would take part in an experiment on hunger feelings. They came without having eaten anything that morning and received a standard breakfast containing orange juice, cream cheese on crackers and yoghurt. These products were later (when subjects returned after scoring hunger feelings during the day) used as targets amidst a set of distractors varied by adding or subtracting different amounts of two basic tastes. Orange juice was varied in sweetness and bitterness, cream cheese in sourness and bitterness and yoghurt in sweetness and sourness. The changes were made comparable by using just noticeable differences, determined in preliminary experiments with other subjects, as units of change. Two measurements of memory were compared, an absolute (indicating which were the targets) and a relative one (indicating whether the targets and distractors were more, less or equally pleasant, sweet, sour, bitter or salty as the item eaten at breakfast). Both methods showed incidental learning, but relative memory was superior. Memory differed between tastes and was partly product dependent. These experiments suggest that taste memory is tuned to detect novel and potentially dangerous stimuli rather than to remember features of earlier experienced stimuli with great precision.
Animals readily acquire positive odor-taste hedonic associations, but evidence for this in humans remains weak and was explored further. Retronasal pairing of odors with sucrose or salty stimuli (Experiment 1) increased the rated sweetness of sucrose-paired odors without altering liking, although changes in odor pleasantness correlated with sucrose liking. Experience of odors with sucrose or quinine by sweet likers (Experiment 2) found increased pleasantness and sweetness for sucrose-paired odors, whereas quinine-paired odors became less liked and more bitter. Odor-sucrose pairings in sweet likers and dislikers (Experiment 3) found increased sweetness in both groups but increased odor liking only in likers. These data suggest that evaluative and sensory learning are dissociable and that evaluative changes are sensitive to individual differences in sweet liking.
The influence of color on flavor was investigated using 310 untrained volunteers who each judged the flavor of 1 of 8 beverages. Artificially flavored raspberry and orange beverages were either left uncolored, or colored red, orange, or green. Color had a significant influence on the identification of both flavors, although every combination of color and flavor was identified correctly beyond the level expected by chance. Performance was degraded equally when beverages were uncolored, and facilitated equally when beverages were appropriately colored. Unusual color-flavor combinations reduced the identification of raspberry flavor more than that of orange flavor. The influence of color was particularly salient because tasters were aware that the color of the beverage might be inappropriate to its flavor.
Three studies were conducted to assess the effects of disconfirmed consumer expectations on food acceptability. In the first, disconfirmed expectations for the sensory attributes of an edible film had a negative effect on acceptability of the film. Greater disconfirmation resulted in lower acceptance and purchase intent. In the second study, written product information was used to establish three levels of expected acceptability and expected bitterness for a novel fruit beverage. Comparison of preexposure (expected) and postexposure (perceived) ratings of acceptability and bitterness supported an assimilation model of disconfirmation effects for conditions in which expectations of acceptability were high and expectations of bitterness were low. A contrast effect was observed for bitterness judgments when expectations of bitterness were high. Associative effects resulting from the expectation manipulation were observed on other sensory attributes. In the third study, expectations were manipulated to influence both direction (positive versus negative) and degree of disconfirmation for the acceptance of cola beverages. Results provided further support for an assimilation model of these effects.
Six experiments were conducted to examine factors affecting the consumer acceptance of novel foods. Variables included for analyses of their effects were: (1) preparation variables; (2) product name and type of serving vessel; (3) brand labels and packaging; (4) availability of product information; (5) nature and quantity of product information; and (6) degree of familiarity of the user with the product. Results of these experiments were interpreted within a theoretical framework that postulates that the hedonic response to food is a function of the degree to which expectancies about the food are matched by subsequent experiences with it. Based on the theory of cognitive dissonance, this theoretical framework is proposed as a useful analytic tool for predicting consumer responses to novel foods.
Dramatic effects of the immediate stimulus context were demonstrated for ratings of sweetness and also for ratings of pleasantness
of soft drinks containing different concentrations of sucrose. The same drinks were rated sweeter when the lower concentrations
were presented more frequently, less sweet when the higher concentrations were presented more frequently. A quasi-normal distribution
of frequencies yielded ratings falling between the two skewed distributions. Ratings of sweetness were accurately predicted
by Parducci’s (1974) range-frequency model of judgment, which was originally developed to explain contextual effects in other
psychophysical dimensions. Ratings of pleasantness were also affected by context; the highest ratings were assigned to concentrations
of intermediate sweetness in their respective contexts.
The effect of nutritional information (fat and salt content) on the acceptance and perceived sensory attributes of a low-fat (40% vegetable fat), low-salt (0.7% NaCl) spread was studied among 50 subjects. Pleasantness, saltiness and melting rate in the mouth were rated without information, after 7 days' of home-use, and with information. The effect of information on ratings was studied before and after home-use. Subjects' concern about food and health was assessed by a background questionnaire. Nutritional information presented before the period of home-use increased the pleasantness and melting-rate ratings, while information presented after home-use did not significantly affect either pleasantness or sensory ratings. Concern about food and health had a positive effect on pleasantness ratings, and information had stronger impact on concerned subjects. Pleasantness or attribute intensity ratings did not change during the home-use period. The results indicate that information about the nutritional content of food affects hedonic ratings and perceived attribute intensities.
Information has been shown to create expectations concerning sensory properties and acceptability of food products, and to influence their evaluations. Studying the impact of information is particularly relevant for traditional products which communicate about typicality. Extra virgin olive oil is a typical Mediterranean production whose typicality is strongly affected by the origin of its raw material and the manufacturing technology. The present study aims (1) to explore the appropriateness of several sensory descriptors in evaluating the typicality of certain extra virgin olive oils, (2) to assess the impact of information about the origin of the product on the sensory profile perception, (3) to study how the effect of sensory expectations can influence liking and “typicality” responses for the experimental oils obtained from a defined cultivar. Working with a panel of consumers familiar with several typical extra virgin olive oils produced in Lucania, a set of monovarietal extra virgin olive oils were evaluated. Results show that there are well defined expectations for some of the sensory properties which characterize the typical olive oils presented. The sensory disconfirmations leading to complete assimilation in sensory perception are associated to higher “typicality” ratings. Our results also revealed that bitterness and pungency proved to be the most appropriate sensory descriptors of certain typical olive oils.
Can a dietitian, restaurateur, marketer, or parent change the perceived taste of a food simply by changing its name? In a six-week cafeteria experiment involving 140 customers, those who ate foods with evocative, descriptive menu names (such as “Succulent Italian Seafood Filet”) generated a larger number of positive comments about the food and rated it as more appealing, tasty, and caloric than those eating regularly-named counterparts (e.g., “Seafood Filet”). The open-ended comments indicated that their evaluations were assimilated with prior taste expectations in a manner that is more deliberate and less automatic than most research typically claims. For practioners, the use of descriptive names may help improve perceptions of foods in institutional settings, and it may help facilitate the introduction of unfamiliar foods.
When eating or drinking, the individual experiences a multitude of sensations, including taste, smell, touch, temperature, sight, sound, and sometimes pain/irritation. This multi-faceted sensory experience is the underpinning of perceived flavor, although certainly some sensations contribute more than others. This paper reviews how all these sensations interact, both on a perceptual and a physical level, and discusses the resulting impact each has on flavor ratings. Interactions between taste and smell, and interactions of the remaining sensations will be discussed. Finally, practical implications of these interactions for sensory evaluation are discussed.
The integration of olfactory and taste perception and the role of congruency and familiarity on perception have already been demonstrated in model solutions. The aim of the present study was to investigate the role of these factors in real food products. Therefore, we have investigated the impact of olfactory perception on perceived bitterness in a familiar (bitter cocoa beverage) and an unfamiliar (bitter milk) beverage. Sensory profilings with and without noseclip were conducted according to simultaneous product presentation. In a first experiment, an instant cocoa powder mixed with water was used to prepare a common base. Two types of flavourings were added: cocoa and vanilla, at three different levels (none, medium and high). Samples were compared within a flavouring type. In a second experiment a vanilla flavour was added at three levels to a milk base containing caffeine. The panellists scored bitterness, sourness, sweetness and body with noseclip. Without noseclip, overall aroma above the cup and in mouth were assessed in addition to the previous set of attributes. With noseclip, results showed that neither the cocoa nor the vanilla flavourings provided any additional taste to the beverages. Without noseclip, olfactory/taste interaction in the cocoa beverage led to an enhancement of bitterness induced by the cocoa flavouring and an increase in sweetness from the vanilla flavouring. On the contrary, in the caffeinated milk, the addition of vanilla flavouring did not significantly increase sweetness, but unexpectedly enhanced bitterness. This study is further evidence of the influence of olfaction on taste perception in complex matrices. In addition, our results suggest that taste–olfaction integration is product dependent and related to food experience, even when working with trained subjects. Furthermore, the unpleasantness due to the neophobia related to the consumption of a new product and to bitterness may enhance bitterness when the unfamiliarity of the product is increased by addition of vanilla flavouring to a bitter milk beverage.
Memory for texture plays an important role in food expectations. After fasting overnight, subjects (41 women, 35 men, age 19¿60 years) received a breakfast including breakfast drink, biscuits and yoghurt. Subsequently, they rated their hunger feelings every hour, and returned for a taste experiment in the evening. When unexpectedly confronted with five texture variations of each breakfast item, they were asked to recognise the samples they had eaten earlier. Signal detection showed that subjects could recognise the drinks and yoghurts, but not the biscuits. In a second test with newly coded samples, subjects rated liking and compared their perception of the sample with the remembered target on different attributes. Memory was not related to liking and it was poor for fat (biscuits and yoghurt), but good for thickness (drinks and yoghurt) and crispiness (biscuits). Levels of fat were not remembered as such, but showed some indirect distinctiveness in related attributes as crispiness, thickness or crumbling (biscuits) and thickness or creaminess (yoghurt).
When consumers taste a food product in a real-life situation, their perception of the product is not only based on the sensory characteristics of the product per se. Product perception is often biased by preconceived ideas about product properties and is affected by the consumer’s judgmental frame of reference. If these preconceived ideas are concerned what the product is,they are called perceptual or analytical expectations or product beliefs. If these ideas relate to whether a consumer expects to like the product, they are called hedonic or affective expectations or product attitudes. Product beliefs and attitudes are stored in memory in the form of a network of associative knowledge, that is, a schema. When a market researcher inquires after a consumer’s product expectations, different pieces of information are retrieved as activation spreads through this network of linked nodes. The network will provide a coherent picture of the product under investigation, often referred to as the product image.
Four experiments were conducted to assess the nature of taste–smell interactions. In the first experiment, the ability of
strawberry odor to modify the sweetness of sucrose was investigated. This was accomplished by having subjects rate the sweetness
of whipped-cream stimuli with and without strawberry odor over time. The stimuli were swallowed to augment retronasal stimulation
of the olfactory system. It was found that strawberry odor tended to enhance the maximal sweetness and total rating time of
the stimuli. In the second experiment, it was found that peanut butter odor did not enhance sweetness, thus demonstrating
that an odor's ability to enhance sweetness is odor-dependent, In the third experiment, it was demonstrated that strawberry
odor did not enhance the saltiness of sodium chloride indicating that an odor's ability to enhance taste is tastant-dependent.
In the fourth experiment, it was shown that 85% of the strawberry odorant's ability to enhance sweetness was eliminated by
pinching the nostrils. This suggests that the influence of the strawberry odorant on sweetness was olfactory rather than gustatory.
It was concluded that an odor's influence on taste is both odorant and tastant dependent.
Turkeys from six market flocks were examined at 8 to 19 weeks of age to assess morphologic lesions of perirenal hemorrhage syndrome (PHS). PHS was diagnosed in 165 of 715 turkeys necropsied, and 82 turkeys served as age- and weight-matched controls. The most consistent gross findings were rounded pectoral muscles of normal color, ingesta-filled crops and gizzards, variable retroperitoneal perirenal hemorrhage, a swollen dark red and light purple spleen, congested intestinal blood vessels, and pulmonary edema and/or hemorrhage. The main histologic lesions of PHS were perivascular edema in lungs and kidneys, vascular congestion of various organs, renal perivenous hemorrhage, and proliferative arterial and arteriolar lesions in the spleen and kidneys that were more severe than those in controls. Heart weights, including mean relative weights of the right and combined left ventricles and interventricular septa, were significantly greater in turkeys that died with PHS than in controls. Scores for tibial dyschondroplasia and "breast blisters" were more severe in turkeys that died with PHS than in controls. The cardiovascular system appeared to be the PHS target system.
The effect of the range of levels of the test stimuli on ratings of sweetness intensity is demonstrated for a lime drink. The results are consistent with Poulton's (1979) suggestion that range effects can be predicted from the deviation of the mean response in a session from the mid-point of the response dimension. It is demonstrated that this range bias can be avoided by adding a readily anchored mid-point (ideal) to the response dimension and selecting stimuli so that the mean response is close to this mid-point. This bias-reducing, relative-to-mid-point procedure also produces a stronger linear relationship between ratings and concentration ratios than does the conventional end-point-anchored intensity rating procedure. The similarity of the linear semi-log functions of response relative to extremely sweet and relative to ideally sweet is taken as evidence that the two types of responses are not independent.
Hedonic and sensory expectations related to fat-free and regular-fat pound cake, crackers and American cheese were studied with 97 subjects divided into three subgroups, each testing one type of product. Four study phases were separated by 1-month intervals: (1) a questionnaire on demographics, dietary practices and consumption of the test products, (2) intensity ratings of sensory attributes and ratings of liking of unlabeled fat-free and regular-fat samples, (3) ratings of expected attribute intensities and liking in response to product labels of "fat-free" and "regular", and subsequent ratings of these samples and (4) phase 3 repeated with opposite (incorrect) labels. Fat-free products were expected to be less liked than their regular counterparts; however, only cheese was less liked in actual taste tests. Expected liking was best predicted by familiarity with the product and, in the case of fat-free products, by the extent to which a person substituted low-fat for high-fat foods. Actual liking was best predicted by the effect of labeling and by expectations. The expected intensities of sensory attributes were uniformly higher in regular than in fat-free products. Both sensory and hedonic ratings of labeled samples changed in the direction of expectations, as compared to baseline values, supporting an assimilation model of the effect of disconfirmed expectations on sensory perception and consumer acceptance.
Although odorants and tastants are perceived by two different senses, the rated intensity of a tastant may increase if an odorant is added. The size of the odor-induced taste enhancement is said to depend on the perceptual similarity between the tastant and the odorant, and on the task instruction which affects subjects' working concepts of attribute categories. It is investigated whether congruency or pleasantness (halo-effects) can replace perceptual similarity in accounting for odor-induced taste enhancement. Sweetness intensity, pleasantness, and degree of congruency are determined for three sucrose/odorant combinations. Odor-induced enhancement is found only for congruent mixtures (sucrose/strawberry and sucrose/lemon). In addition, highly congruent mixtures are more pleasant than expected under additivity. The pleasantness judgments for incongruent combinations (sucrose/ham) follow a subtractive rule. The congruency ratings can account for a significant part of the pleasantness ratings, but not for the degree of sweetness enhancement. Also, the pleasantness ratings are not related to the degree of enhancement. Therefore, congruency or pleasantness ratings cannot replace similarity ratings in accounting for odor-induced taste enhancement.
We used positron emission tomography to evaluate differential processing of olfactory, gustatory and combined olfactory and gustatory (flavor) stimuli as indicated by comparison of evoked cerebral blood flow (CBF) changes during these conditions. We found significant CBF decreases in primary gustatory and secondary gustatory and olfactory cortices during simultaneous presentation compared with independent presentations of identical stimuli, suggesting that flavor processing is not represented by a simple convergence of its component senses. Additionally, CBF increases in the amygdala and basal forebrain were observed in a mismatched flavor condition versus a matched flavor condition, suggesting a role for these structures in processing novel or unpleasant stimuli.
Effects of expectations conveyed by a product description or an empty package on the evaluation of four types of natural yogurt were studied in a laboratory setting. Hedonic and perceptual responses for the correctly or incorrectly identified products generally showed assimilation: they fell between the responses to the unlabelled products and the responses for the expected properties evoked by presenting only product descriptions or empty packages. Hedonic judgments remained close to the expectation when the product performed better than expected, whereas they were relatively close to the evaluation for the unlabelled product when the product performed worse than expected. The asymmetry was largest for the buying intentions of subjects who received product packages. This is in accordance with the theory that positive disconfirmations are regarded as "gains" and negative disconfirmations as "losses". The asymmetry is likely to be more important in actual buying behaviour than in the experimental settings generally studied, as here.
Detailed analysis of the pattern of change in rated appetite within a meal have proved a useful technique through which to explore appetite control. Variability in individual ratings, and technical difficulties in achieving ratings at equivalent stages of a meal, have lead to the use of curve-fitting techniques to model changes in rated appetite across a meal. These changes could best be described by a quadratic function, in which the three parameters (intercept, linear and quadratic coefficients) represented distinct influences on meal size. In normal subjects, manipulations of palatability and opioid receptor blockade and preloads of alcohol all modified the linear component of this function only, while preloading with maltodextrin reduced appetite at the start of eating (the intercept) but not the pattern of change in ratings within that meal. Thus the linear coefficient appears to measure the degree of stimulation of appetite by the sensory characteristics of the food, while the intercept reflects baseline appetite at the start of a meal. These results suggest that microstructural analyses of rating changes allow some dissociation of the factors underlying motivation to eat, and provide a novel methodology for future experimentation.
The effects of the actual and labelled fat content of a soup preload on appetite at a test meal 30 min later were assessed in 16 healthy men. Each participant ate lunch on four occasions, combining two levels of fat energy (Low, 265 kJ or High, 1510 kJ) and two types of label (Low-fat or High-fat), presented as fictitious soup brand names. Preliminary work established that the Low-fat labels produced an expectation of reduced fat content and lower anticipated hedonic ratings, whereas the High-fat labels generated expectations of a high-fat content and above average hedonic ratings. These expectancies were confirmed in the main experiment, with the soups labelled as high fat rated as both more pleasant and creamy than those labelled low-fat, independent of actual fat content. However, intake at the test meal was unaffected by the preload label, but instead reflected the actual fat (hence, energy) content of the soup, with significantly lower food intake after the high-fat soup regardless of the food label. Rated hunger was lower, and fullness higher, at the start of the meal after the high-fat preloads regardless of how they were labelled, while the pattern of appetite change during the test meal was unaffected by preload. These results suggest that realistic food labels can modify the immediate experience of a consumed food, but do not alter appetite 30 min later in healthy men.
The interaction between the vision of colors and odor determination is investigated through lexical analysis of experts' wine tasting comments. The analysis shows that the odors of a wine are, for the most part, represented by objects that have the color of the wine. The assumption of the existence of a perceptual illusion between odor and color is confirmed by a psychophysical experiment. A white wine artificially colored red with an odorless dye was olfactory described as a red wine by a panel of 54 tasters. Hence, because of the visual information, the tasters discounted the olfactory information. Together with recent psychophysical and neuroimaging data, our results suggest that the above perceptual illusion occurs during the verbalization phase of odor determination.
In studies of hedonic ratings, contrast is the usual result when expectations about test stimuli are produced through the presentation of context stimuli, whereas assimilation is the usual result when expectations about test stimuli are produced through labeling, advertising, or the relaying of information to the subject about the test stimuli. Both procedures produce expectations that are subsequently violated, but the outcomes are different. The present studies demonstrate that both assimilation and contrast can occur even when expectations are produced by verbal labels and the degree of violation of the expectation is held constant. One factor determining whether assimilation or contrast occurs appears to be the certainty of the expectation. Expectations that convey certainty are produced by methods that lead to social influence on subjects' ratings, producing assimilation. When social influence is not a factor and subjects give judgments influenced only by the perceived hedonic value of the stimulus, contrast is the result.
In the present study, we investigated the nature of any cross-modal associations between colors and odors. In Experiment 1, we show that participants consistently match certain odors to specific colors when asked to explicitly select from among different colors the one that best matched a given odor. In Experiment 2, we investigated the robustness of these cross-modal associations using a cross-modal variant of the implicit association test (IAT). Participants made speeded discrimination responses to a random sequence of odors (strawberry vs. spearmint) and color patches (pink vs. turquoise). On the basis of the results of Experiment 1, the assignment of these targets onto the two response keys was manipulated in order to generate compatible (e.g., responding to the pink color and to the strawberry odor with the same response key) and incompatible (e.g., responding to the pink color and to the spearmint odor with the same response key) blocks of trials. The results showed that participants responded more rapidly and accurately to odor-color pairings having a stronger association than to those having a weaker (or no) association. These results suggest that odor-color associations can be both systematic and robust. The paradigm developed here provides a novel cross-modal extension of the IAT to probe the nature of color-odor associations.
Human olfactory perception is notoriously unreliable, but shows substantial benefits from visual cues, suggesting important crossmodal integration between these primary sensory modalities. We used event-related fMRI to determine the underlying neural mechanisms of olfactory-visual integration in the human brain. Subjects participated in an olfactory detection task, whereby odors and pictures were delivered separately or together. By manipulating the degree of semantic correspondence between odor-picture pairs, we show a perceptual olfactory facilitation for semantically congruent (versus incongruent) trials. This behavioral advantage was associated with enhanced neural activity in anterior hippocampus and rostromedial orbitofrontal cortex. We suggest these findings can be interpreted as indicating that human hippocampus mediates reactivation of crossmodal semantic associations, even in the absence of explicit memory processing.
Effects of disconfirmed consumer expectations on food acceptability Some hedonic consequences of the confirmation and disconfirmation of expectancies
- A V Cardello
- F M Sawyer
Cardello, A. V., & Sawyer, F. M. (1992). Effects of disconfirmed consumer expectations on food acceptability. Journal of Sensory Studies, 7. Carlsmith, J. M., & Aronson, E. (1963). Some hedonic consequences of the confirmation and disconfirmation of expectancies. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 66, 151–156.
Taste-odor similarities predict taste enhancement and suppression in taste-odor mixture
- Frank
Frank, R. A., Shaffer, G., & Smith, D. V. (1991). Taste-odor similarities predict
taste enhancement and suppression in taste-odor mixture. Chemical Senses, 16,
523.
Effects of context in judgements of sweetness and pleasantness
- Riskey