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International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.17 No.1 pp.19-26 (2018)
doi: 10.5057/ijae.IJAE-D-17-00029
19
J-STAGE Advance Published Date: 2018.01.18
1. INTRODUCTION
The sensibility on colors has been improving through the
development of modern life. Color is everywhere in our
daily life as an important element. People’s preference,
opinion, taste, understanding on color are becoming more
and more subtle, various, dynamic in different culture,
contents, and situations. There is a large body of literature
on the psychology of color [1]. The research on color is a
topic that will never get old.
Color-emotion and color-preference are two most
popular topics for color research (e.g. [1-4]). Our past
experiences influence our emotion and preference on
colors, and individual experiences, cultural conventions
and stereotypes also provide subtle connotation and
multiple meanings of the same color to people [5].
Color plays an important role in our dining experience.
The color of the food, tableware, table sheet, will always
be in our sight while having the food. Research on the
color of food is the majority in the field of color-dining
research. There are various studies on the color of table-
ware as well, however, most of the study conducted the
experiment with only a small sample of colors (red/blue
or black/white, e.g. [6-8]). A few research focused on a
wider range of tableware colors [9]. One previous study
involved a wide range of tableware colors showed that
when Jelly was used as the target food, dull color
schemes were not liked as the color of the tableware
(black and cool colors were the most disliked), but warm
scheme colors were mostly liked by participants [9].
Little is known about how the colors of non-edible items
such as tableware affect people’s perception of food,
emotional responses and mood in dining activities. Previ-
ous research on the color of tableware mainly aimed to
only investigate the influence of the color of plate ware
on appetite, or the flavor perception of the food placed on
it. For instance, a research group in Oxford University
provided sweet and salty popcorn in containers with
different color to the participants. The results showed
that the flavor perception of sweet and salty popcorn
changed when switched to red or blue containers [6].
Another study on the color of dining tray showed that the
color of the tray affected not only the appetite of the
diner, but also some other emotional responses such as
“brightness” and “peacefulness” [10]. Moreover, some
other research took place in United States and Japan
indicated that warm colors increase appetite and cold
colors do the opposite [11, 12].
Although color contrast between plate ware and food
was considered as the key factor in some studies, the
explanations for the fact that the color of the plate ware
Received: 2017.09.06 / Accepted: 2017.12.25
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Exploring the Role of Color in Dining Experience:
Preference and Relationship between Tableware Color and
Dining Scenes in Japanese Young Females
Suomiya BAO*, Yusuke SHIOKAWA**, Satoshi SUZUKI**
and Toshimasa YAMANAKA***
* Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba,
1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
** Nanayo Shoji Co., Ltd., 3-6-12 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0011, Japan
*** University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8577, Japan
Abstract: Currently little is known about how the color of non-edible items such as tableware affect people’s perception of food,
emotional responses and mood in dining activities. The emotional responses and mood during dining activities are considered more
easily affected by colors. In this study, we conducted an experiment to understand Japanese female participants’ preference and asso-
ciation about 8 different colors. We also designed 6 different illustration indicating typical dining situations to evaluate the perception
of dining activities and color preference in each dining situations. Analysis of variance and correlation analysis were carried out to
detect the significant differences between preference of colors and the relationship between color selection and adjective words. The
results showed the tendency of light color being preferred to dark color, and explained that different dining situations evoked different
mood and interpretation, which might lead to different choice of colors for tableware.
Keywords: Color, Preference, Dining experience
International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.17 No.1
20
impacts flavor perception have not been fully developed
yet. On the other hand, emotional responses and mood
during dining, which are considered more easily affected
by colors, have become very important and noticeable.
Previous research on dining atmospherics indicated
that the indirect effect of perceived atmospherics on
behavioral intentions through perceived quality was
greater than the direct effects like services and food
themselves, which means in some cases, the environment
might have bigger influence on customers than the food
or service [13]. Different dining environment and
interaction around the dining table (which are various
situations or scenes) should also be taken into consider-
ation as an important factor in the evaluation of dining
experience.
2. OBJECTIVE
Factors like mood, emotional responses, and harmony,
which are not being paid attention on fairly, are as
important as flavor or appetite in the modern dining
experience. On the other hand, by knowing that the
cultural factors and gender effects influence color prefer-
ence and emotions in different ways, Japanese female was
taken into consideration as the target because of a higher
market share as tableware customers in Japanese retail
stores. Therefore, in this study, we intend to explore the
role of colors in dining experience, understanding how
Japanese females interpret colors into dining experience,
what kind of mood and emotion Japanese females feel on
different color and dining scenes, and color preference in
different dining situations. Our study aims to understand
the interaction between user and colored tableware,
provide knowledge to designers and consumers and help
them choose colors depending on specific situation and
demand in dining activities.
3. METHOD
We conducted an experiment to collect people’s under-
standing about different colors and dining experience by
showing simple color samples and sketches of different
dining scenes. The experiment indicated participants to
rate their preference of the shown colors, evaluate their
emotional responses against presented different sketches
of dining scenes, and required participants to pick one or
multiple color samples from the colors as their preferred
colors for tableware to use in each dining scene. Partici-
pants were indicated to describe the reason why they
chose certain color for the dining scene.
3.1 Participants
We invited 30 Japanese female students in University of
Tsukuba, with the average age of 24.6 (M = 24.6, SD = 2.96)
and major in medical science, sports, comprehensive
human sciences. All the participants passed color vision
test using Ishihara PseudoIsochromatic Plates [14].
3.2 Color
In previous study, blue and red were chosen as the
target color of tableware [6]. In this study, instead of
using only 2 colors, we intended to expand the color hue
range in order to explore more detailed relationship
between color of tableware and dining scenes. At first,
5 designers were presented with pictures and real
product of colored tableware for reference. After brain-
storming and discussing on the meaning and association
of colors considering various aspects such as lifestyle,
seasons and culture, we selected 4 colors: pink, green,
orange and blue. In previous study on colors and
emotions, it was found that the saturation of color
evidenced strong and consistent effects on emotions [1].
Therefore, in addition, to understand the effect of not
only the hue of color, but also the saturation of color,
we included two versions of the 4 colors: light and
dark (low and high saturation). In total, 8 colors were
selected as the stimuli of the experiment. The color
code was decided by 5 designers based on CMYK color
model system, considering the process of making
colored tableware with these colors and how they really
look like on a real product. The color code was
recorded for reproducing and re-printing in the future
study (Figure 1).
3.3 Dining scenes
After brainstorming and internet browsing, a list of
Japanese dining activities was made based on combina-
tions of all possible time, location, people relationship
Figure 1: Color samples
Exploring the Role of Color in Dining Exper ience: Preference and Relationship between Tableware Color and Dining Scenes in Japanese Young Females
International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.17 No.1
21
and social meaning. After eliminating similar and
non-sense combinations, we concluded 6 typical dining
situations, which are: 1. “dinner dating with partner
(lover)”, 2. “Dinner with family members”, 3. “Drinking
alone at home”, 4. “Breakfast at home”, 5. “Picnic with
family at park”, 6. “Hot pot party with friends”.
Afterwards, we collected internet pictures by using
these keywords. Based on the pictures, we simplified
the elements in the picture and designed a group of
black-and-white illustrations representing the 6 dining
scenes (Figure 2).
3.4 Experimental procedure
Firstly, all color samples were presented to participants
in random order. After gazing at each color stimulus as
indicated, participants were handed over a questionnaire
to rate their preference of the colors. Afterward, all dining
scene illustrations were presented in random order too,
and the emotional responses against dining scenes were
evaluated by questionnaire. The questionnaires included
0-4 scale assessment for preference rating and adjective
words rating. The adjective words rating scale was made
according to the extracted factors in a research on the
mood in various dining scenes by Hirai (2005) [15].
In addition, the questionnaire for dining scenes required
participants to select their favorite colors as many as they
want for each dining scene.
3.5 Analysis
Firstly, analysis of variance was needed to determine
whether there were significant differences between the
preference of colors. Afterwards, the color selection under
different dining scenes was listed to observe the tendency
of participants’ choice of color in dining situations.
Finally, we conducted correlation analysis to explore
the relationship between mood assessment and color
selection of each dining scene.
4. RESULT
4.1 Color preference
Test of normality using Kolmogorove-Smirnov method
showed that the preference rating scores data set was non-
parametric (p = 0.001). Therefore, we conducted Friedman
test to determine if there were significant differences
between the preference of color samples. Friedman test
yielded a significant difference (p = 0.001) that indicates
there are significant difference between preference of
color samples.
Following up the Friedman test, we carried out post-hoc
analysis using Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The preference
rating score of light pink was rated significantly lower than
most of the other colors: dark pink (Δ
=
0.80, p
= 0.001),
light green (Δ
=
0.67, p
=
0.012), light orange (Δ
=
0.60,
p
=
0.034), light blue (Δ
=
1.14, p
=
0.001) and dark blue
(Δ
=
0.57, p
=
0.019). The second relatively less preferred
color is dark orange, which is rated significantly lower
than dark pink (Δ
=
0.53, p
=
0.002) and light blue (Δ
=
0.87,
p
=
0.002). light blue was rated as the most preferred color
in the chart, showing significant differences from all
the other color samples except dark pink (Δ
=
0.34,
p
=
0.082) (Figure 3).
4.2 Color selection in different dining scenes
Figure 4 shows the number of selected colors by the
participants in each dining scene. The length of horizontal
column represents the total number of selected colors in
the dining scene. The number in different colors shows the
number of people who selected that color.
Dining scene No.
1 “dinner dating with partner” shows
a very balanced color selection result with majority of
pink (light pink with 10 & dark pink with 9 participants)
and blue colors (light blue with 9 & dark blue with 10
participants) being selected. In dining scene No.
2
Figure 2: Dining scenes samples
Figure 3: Color preference ratings (the ‘*’ mark represents that
the p value between two groups is lower than 0.05 but
higher than 0.01. The ‘**’ mark means that the p value
is lower than 0.01.)
International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.17 No.1
22
“dinner with family members”, light orange was appar-
ently the favorite color with 15 out of 30 participants
selected, followed by light green. Dining scene No.
3
“drinking alone at home” has the least overall number of
selected colors (40), and 18 out of 30 participants chose
dark blue as their favorite color in this situation. No.
4
“breakfast at home” also has the least overall number of
selected colors (40), and light green was the most
preferred color (with 14 participants selected) in this
situation alongside light blue (with 14 participants
selected). No.
5 “picnic with family at park” has the most
selected number of colors (66), with dark blue being the
only color that was not chosen in this situation. Dark
pink was the most liked color (with 18 participants
selected), followed by light green (with 11 participants
selected) and light pink (with 10 participants selected).
Orange dominated dining scene No.
6 “hot pot party with
friends” with 21 out of 30 participants selecting light
orange and 13 participants selecting dark orange.
4.3 Correlation between color selection and adjective
words in different dining scenes
Based on adjective words rating scale, we collected
participants’ mood assessment in different dining experi-
ences. Following color selection’s result, we conducted
correlation analysis to explore the relationship between
mood assessment and color selection.
Tables 1 to 6 show the correlation strength and direc-
tion between mood assessment words and specific color
selection in each dining situation. In dining scene No.
1
“dinner dating with partner”, the result shows that the
Pearson correlation between selection of light pink
and the mood of feeling empty is moderate positive
(Pearson r
=
0.446, p
=
0.014). The relationship between
feeling of refreshing is also moderate positive with dark
orange (Pearson r
=
0.488, p
=
0.013). On the other hand,
the feeling of quiet and selection of dark pink showed
moderate negative relationship (Table 1).
In dining scene No.
2 “dinner with family members”,
there are 4 pairs of moderate positive relationships: feeling
of cramped with dark pink (Pearson r
=
0.394, p
=
0.031),
peaceful with light green (Pearson r
=
0.410, p
=
0.024),
boring with light blue (Pearson r
=
0.402, p
= 0.027) and
lonely with dark blue (Pearson r
=
0.489, p
=
0.006). On
the other hand, the result revealed 3 pairs with moderate
negative relationships: joyful with light pink (Pearson
r
=
-
0.402, p
=
0.027), feeling of warm with light pink
(Pearson r
=
-
0.363, p
=
0.049), and feeling of peaceful
with dark green (Pearson r
=
-
0.362, p
=
0.049) (Table 2).
Figure 4: Color selections in different dining scenes. The numbers in each color bar represents
the number of selected colors by participants. For example, in dining scene 1,
the number 10 in light pink indicates that there were 10 people selected light pink.
Table 1: Correlations between mood assessment and color selections
in dining scene No. 1 (dinner dating with partner)
Mood assessment Color selection Pearson r P value
Feeling empty Light pink 0.446 0.014
Feeling quiet Dark pink
-
0.377 0.040
Refreshing Dark orange 0.488 0.013
Table 2: Correlations between mood assessment and color selections
in dining scene No. 2 (dinner with family members)
Mood assessment Color selection Pearson r P value
Joyful Light pink
-
0.402 0.027
Warm Light pink
-
0.363 0.049
Feeling cramped Dark pink 0.394 0.031
Peaceful Light green 0.410 0.024
Peaceful Dark green
-
0.362 0.049
Boring Light blue 0.402 0.027
Lonely Dark blue 0.489 0.006
Exploring the Role of Color in Dining Exper ience: Preference and Relationship between Tableware Color and Dining Scenes in Japanese Young Females
International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.17 No.1
23
In the dining scene No.
3 “drinking alone at home”,
there were only 2 pairs of significant correlation relation-
ships. The feeling of weird and selection of dark pink
showed moderate positive relationship (Pearson r
=
0.364,
p
=
0.048), and the joyful was significantly correlated with
selection of light green with a moderate negative relation-
ship (Pearson r
=
-
0.379, p
=
0.039) (Table 3).
In the dining scene No.
4 “breakfast at home”, there
were only positive relationships between color selections
and mood adjective words, and all words were only
correlated to the color selection of dark orange. The
mood assessment adjective words are: feeling cold
(Pearson r
=
0.371, p
=
0.043), feeling weird (Pearson
r
=
0.615, p
=
0.001), boring (Pearson r
=
0.399, p
=
0.029),
lonely (Pearson r
=
0.494, p
=
0.006) and feeling cramped
(Pearson r
=
0.576, p
=
0.001) (Table 4).
In dining scene No.
5 “picnic with family at park”, the
color selection tendency of dark green showed positive
relationships with 3 mood assessment adjective words:
feeling weird (Pearson r
=
0.421, p
=
0.020), feeling quiet
(Pearson r
=
0.464, p
=
0.010) and feeling empty (Pearson
r
=
0.417, p
=
0.022). For negative relationships, dark pink
and light green respectively correlated with feeling
cramped (Pearson r
=
-
0.468, p
=
0.009) and feeling quiet
(Pearson r
=
-
0.475, p
=
0.008) (Table 5).
In dining scene No.
6 “hot pot party with friends”, dark
orange showed the only positive relationships with feeling
cramped (Pearson r
=
0.462, p
=
0.010). Light orange showed
3 negative relationships respectively with boring (Pearson
r
=
-
0.385, p
=
0.036), feeling empty (Pearson r
=
-
0.385,
p
=
0.036) and feeling cramped (Pearson r
=
-
0.485,
p
=
0.007). Light green also revealed negative relation-
ship with feeling of being together (Pearson r
=
-
0.429,
p
=
0.018) (Table 6).
5. DISCUSSION
5.1 Color preference
The results showed that in general, when comparing the
light version and dark version between the same color
hues (e.g., comparing light blue with dark blue), there
was a tendency that light colors were rated higher in
preference than dark colors. Pink was the only color that
showed lower preference for light pink than dark pink.
The color preference test revealed participants’ taste
that when presented by colors with high saturation (dark
color) and low saturation (light color), participants tend to
prefer colors with low saturation. The dark colors used in
this experiment are relatively close to primary colors, and
the light colors are faded colors with low saturation or
mixed with grey color. One observation is that colors with
low saturation or grey tone are perceived as colors with
better taste in society. According to Global Automobile
2016 Color Popularity Report, 77% people prefer white,
black and grey colors [16]. More and more products
designed with low saturation color or mixed with grey
tone are perceived as more expensive and refined, refer to
the traditional color of Japan (e.g., the traditional color
of kimono in Japan) [17]. Unlike products in primary
colors that often seen in cheap product retailers, those with
grey tone colors are sophisticated and well arranged in
Japanese society. The beloved traditional Japanese color
which are a collection of colors with grey tone, are recog-
nized and used widely in fashion design, product design
and culture from prehistoric time to present day [17].
However, regardless of the tendency observed above,
pink was the only color showed lower preference for light
color than dark color. Considering all the participants are
female, and the fact that females are biologically
Table 3: Correlations between mood assessment and color selections
in dining scene No. 3 (drinking alone at home)
Mood assessment Color selection Pearson r P value
Feeling weird Dark pink 0.364 0.048
Joyful Light green
-
0.379 0.039
Table 4: Correlations between mood assessment and color selections
in dining scene No. 4 (breakfast at home)
Mood assessment Color selection Pearson r P value
Feeling cold Dark orange 0.371 0.043
Feeling weird Dark orange 0.615 0.001
Boring Dark orange 0.399 0.029
Lonely Dark orange 0.494 0.006
Feeling cramped Dark orange 0.576 0.001
Table 5: Correlations between mood assessment and color selections
in dining scene No. 5 (picnic with family at park)
Mood assessment Color selection Pearson r P value
Feeling cramped Dark pink
-
0.468 0.009
Feeling quiet Light green
-
0.475 0.008
Feeling weird Dark green 0.421 0.020
Feeling quiet Dark green 0.464 0.010
Feeling empty Dark green 0.417 0.022
Table 6: Correlations between mood assessment and color selections
in dining scene No. 6 (hot pot party with friends)
Mood assessment Color selection Pearson r P value
Feeling being together Light green -0.429 0.018
Boring Light orange -0.385 0.036
Feeling empty Light orange -0.385 0.036
Feeling cramped Light orange -0.485 0.007
Feeling cramped Dark orange 0.462 0.010
International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.17 No.1
24
programmed to prefer color pink, or redder shades of color
than man [18], the color of pink or other redder shades of
colors might make exception from the observation that low
saturation colors are better accepted. This indicates that
although colors with grey tone or low saturation are
preferred by customers and suggested for designers in
general, when it comes to pink color, a more saturated pink
could be a better choice for female customers. On the other
hand, the experiment did not involve male participants,
but a hypothesis could be proposed that the dark blue
(high saturation) would be preferred to light blue (low
saturation) in male participants.
5.2 Color selection in different dining scenes
Despite being the least preferred colors in all 8 colors,
light pink and dark orange were chosen by many partici-
pants in some dining scenes. For example, when
participants imagine that they are having a diner date, they
obviously prefer pink and blue as the color of their table-
ware in this situation, despite light pink was the least liked
color. According to the descriptive answer of participants
on why they chose the color, we found that it is likely
because that in this situation, more than half of partici-
pants consider pink and blue are the appropriate colors to
represent male and female.
Light pink was also chosen by 33% of the participants
in the situation of “picnic at park with family”. In Japanese
culture, “picnic at park” is always associated with
“Hanami”, which is the traditional custom of enjoying the
transient beauty of the bloom of cherry blossom. As the
color of cherry blossom, pink is the key color to every
event and festival related to cherry blossom and spring
season. Therefore, it makes sense that people would like
to choose pink to match the beautiful color of the nature.
This explains the reason why green was selected by many
participants in the same dining scene as well. This dining
scene has the most total amount of chosen colors, which
means that participants prefer multiple colors to make the
event more colorful.
13 out of 30 participants selected dark orange in the
dining scene of “hot pot party with friends”. Similar with
light pink, although dark orange was not the liked color,
participants tend to choose it because it matches the vibe
of the event. According to participants’ comments at the
end of the experiment, many participants responded that
the reason of choosing orange is because orange matches
the feeling and vibe of “hot” and “crowd”. 21 out of 30
participants made their decision to choose light orange in
this dining scene. The dominance of orange (light and
dark combined) showed that the vibe in this dining scene
matches orange much better than other colors. “Having a
party with friends” was associated with words such as
“lively”, “loud” and “crowded” according to correlation
analysis, and “hot pot party” also create the feeling of
“hot”, which is always associated with orange or red.
Similarly, light orange is also the most chosen color in the
dining scene of “dinner with family at home”, which
indicates that light orange is a color associated with the
feelings of warm and happy, suitable for both situations.
However, “dinner with family” was considered as an event
with a more peaceful mood, dark orange is not popular in
this situation.
Dark blue clearly matches the situation of drinking
alone at home and people tend to use less color in this
situation. According to the descriptive answer in the
interview, dark blue is a perfect color for a quiet “home
alone moment” for more than half of the participants.
In contrast to “picnic with family at park”, “drinking alone
at home” and “breakfast at home” have the least total
amount of chosen colors. This indicates that participants’
preferred colors are more limited in this situation from the
given color samples.
The selected colors in dining scene “breakfast at home”
are all light colors (except for only one participant selected
dark orange). Furthermore, light green and light blue
dominated the selection. According to the answer in
the interview, participants tend to seek for a refreshing
feeling in the morning and light green or light blue
are their best answer to provide a clean and refreshing
ambient environment.
5.3 Correlation between color selection and adjective
words in different dining scenes
The correlation analysis revealed some insights and
implication to help us understand the reason behind the
color selections and the Kansei of the participants on
colors. For instance, in dining scene No.
2 “dinner with
family”, the selection of light green (11 out of 30) is much
more than dark green (1 out of 30). Light green and dark
green both showed relationships with the adjective word
“peaceful”, however, light green presented a moderate
positive relationship (Pearson r
=
0.410, p
=
0.024) but
dark green presented a moderate negative relationship
(Pearson r
=
-
0.362, p
=
0.049). This indicates that as the
rating of mood assessment adjective word “peaceful”
increases, the selection of light green increases but the
selection of dark green decreases. The situation of having
a dinner with family clearly gives participants a peaceful
mood and led to a gap between the amount of the selection
of two colors. This also suggests that light green might
Exploring the Role of Color in Dining Exper ience: Preference and Relationship between Tableware Color and Dining Scenes in Japanese Young Females
International Journal of Affective Engineering Vol.17 No.1
25
have an implicit meaning of “peaceful” rather than dark
green in this situation.
In the situation of “breakfast at home”, the selection of
dark orange showed correlations with multiple mood
assessment words, however, there are two correlations
showed greater strength than others: “feeling weird”
(Pearson r
=
0.615, p
=
0.001) and “feeling cramped”
(Pearson r
=
0.576, p
=
0.001). Since dark orange is only
selected by 1 participant, the possible connection here
based on the result is that the color dark orange is
associated with “feeling cramped”, and “feeling weird”
in this dining scene, therefore most people don’t consider
this color as a fit. Most users would not choose tableware
with dark orange because it gives them a feeling of
“weird” or “cramped”.
For the last dining scene “hot pot party with friends”, as
the most selected color, light orange showed 3 negative
relationships respectively with boring (Pearson r
=
-
0.385,
p
=
0.036), feeling empty (Pearson r
=
-
0.385, p
=
0.036)
and feeling cramped (Pearson r
=
-
0.485, p
=
0.007). This
indicates that situation of a hot pot party with friends are
unlikely to connect to negative feelings such as “boring”,
“empty” or “cramped”, and light orange is the perfect
color to decorate in this situation. As the observation
above, orange dominated the selection, however, dark
orange (13 out of 30) is less selected than light orange
(21 out of 30). Different from light orange, dark orange
revealed a positive relationship with “feeling cramped”
(Pearson r
=
0.462, p
=
0.010). This might explain the
reason why dark orange is selected less than light orange:
dark orange was likely associated with a negative feeling of
“cramped” or “crowded”, therefore we suggest that when
designers or users decide to deliver the feeling of “lively”,
“hot”, “joyful” and so on, light orange is a more acceptable
better choice because of the negative implications from
dark orange such as “cramped” in specific situations.
6. CONCLUSION
Color plays an important role in culture, society and our
daily life, and color preference is always a factor that
continues changing through different time, place, culture
and personality. Capturing the trend of customers’ color
preference and choice in different situations is essentially
useful for designers and researchers in this area.
In this research, we explored color preference and
relationship between the perception of color and different
dining situations. The results showed a gap of color
preference between colors with low saturation and high
saturation. On the other hand, it is found that colors with
low preference might still be chosen as a better fit to the
situation over those with higher preference. Colors with
different hues represent various meanings to people.
Moreover, colors with same hues but different value or
saturation could be associated with different meanings
and concepts that affect the choice of colors.
It is suggested that colors contain a lot more implica-
tions and implicit information that worth digging.
Understanding the deep perception of customers on colors
and categorize the dining experience into different situations
help designers and retailers improve the user experience of
products and the marketing potential.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
As a co-operative research with Nanayo Shoji Co., Ltd,
the various color samples in this study are provided by the
Japanese household goods brand CORAZYs established
by the company [19].
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Suomiya BAO (Non-member)
Suomiya Bao is a student at the Kansei Information
Science Laboratory, Doctoral Program in Kansei,
Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Graduate School of
Comprehensive Human Sciences, at the University
of Tsukuba, Japan. He has a Master’s Degree in
Kansei Science from University of Tsukuba and a
Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Design from the University of Science and
Technology Beijing, China. His research interests are Kansei, design and
customer studies focused on Non-verbal measurements, scents, colors and
other topics involving emotion, perception and user experience.
Yusuke SHIOKAWA (Non-member)
Born in Tokyo, Japan, Yusuke Shiokawa traveled & studied in USA since
1999, worked abroad from 2005 in South Africa and from 2008 in
Mongolia. He was employed by Nanayo Shoji Co., Ltd. in 2012 and
joined the “CORAZYs” project.
Satoshi SUZUKI (Non-member)
Satoshi Suzuki is the representative director of Nanayo Shoji Co., Ltd.,
and the managing director of CORAZYs company, which carries the
brand of “CORAZYs”. CORAZYs is the rather new brand for focusing
the colorful items for homeware & livingware, etc., and selling in Japan
since 2016.
Toshimasa YAMANAKA (Member)
Toshimasa Yamanaka is a professor at the Kansei
Information Science Laboratory, Masters and
Doctoral Program in Kansei, Behavioral and Brain
Sciences, Graduate School of Comprehensive
Human Sciences Department of the University of
Tsukuba. He is currently the provost of the faculty
of Arts and Design of the University of Tsukuba.
