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Neatness counts. How plating affects liking for the taste of food

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Abstract

Two studies investigated the effect that the arrangement of food on a plate has on liking for the flavor of the food. Food presented in a neatly arranged presentation is liked more than the same food presented in a messy manner. A third study found that subjects expected to like the food in the neat presentations more than in the messy ones and would be willing to pay more for them. They also indicated that the food in the neat presentations came from a higher quality restaurant and that more care was taken with its preparation than the food in the messy presentations. Only the animal-based food was judged as being more contaminated when presented in a messy rather than a neat way. Neatness of the food presentation increases liking for the taste of the food by suggesting greater care on the part of the preparer. Two mechanisms by which greater care might increase liking are discussed.

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... Further, though not explicitly mentioning the concept of entrophy, several studies have examined the influence of disorder versus neatness on customer perception and judgment. For instance, some research has suggested neatness of food presentation can improve customers' evaluation and purchase behavior (Zellner et al., 2011(Zellner et al., , 2014. This is further supported by Suher et al. (2021) who find that aesthetic imperfections reduce customer liking for unprocessed foods. ...
... Furthermore, we explore two mediating mechanisms underpinning the relationship between neatness/non-neatness and purchase likelihood, namely perceived quality and nostalgia. It is proposed that in the case of modernity, neatness denotes greater human care and effort, thereby positively influencing the perception of quality (Suher et al., 2021;Zellner et al., 2011). On the other hand, as traditionalism refers to a strong connection to the past, the non-neat presentation can evoke the feeling of nostalgia, an important emotion in marketing (Kessous, 2015). ...
... Conversely, non-neatness is more beneficial in the case of traditionalism characterized by positioning as both non-neatness cues and traditional positioning have a past orientation. Finally, building on previous work (Kessous, 2015;Suher et al., 2021;Zellner et al., 2011) we recognize perceived quality and nostalgia as key mediators in these relationships. The findings offer practical implications for marketers to communicate to consumers using visual cues. ...
Article
Purpose Underpinned by the fit-fluency framework, this research aims to explore the effect of visual entropy (i.e. the neatness or disorder of food presentation) on the likelihood to purchase under different time-related positioning conditions. Design/methodology/approach Two experiments were conducted with customers who are located in the USA via Amazon Mechanical Turk. Study 1 employed a 2 (visual entropy: neat vs non-neat) × 2 (time-related positioning: traditional vs modern) between-subjects design using four advertisements for a fictitious ice cream brand. Study 2 employed a 2 (visual entropy: neat vs non-neat) × 2 (time-related positioning: traditional vs modern) between-subjects design using four book covers for fruit salad recipes. Findings The findings demonstrate low entropy (i.e. neatness) increases purchase likelihood when being paired with modern positioning, whilst high entropy (i.e. non-neat presentation) positively influences the propensity to purchase a traditional product on account of temporal fit. These relationships are mediated by perceived quality and nostalgia. Originality/value This research extends the understanding of visual entropy and addresses the inconclusive evidence of the impact of the neatness of product presentation on consumer behavior. The authors elucidate the mechanisms behind which neatness and non-neatness of food presentation affect purchase likelihood when different types of time-related positioning are featured.
... To address our research question, we draw on prior studies showing that human presence positively affects product evaluations (Abouab and Gomez 2015;Fuchs et al. 2015;Schroll et al. 2018) as well as research showing that consumers positively value care in food preparation (Zellner et al. 2011). We propose that consumers have opposing preferences for aesthetic imperfections in processed and unprocessed foods because they make different attributions for the level of human care (i.e., attention, concern, caution, and consideration; Morse et al. 1990;Nassauer 1988) involved in producing the foods. ...
... Consumers' food evaluations and choices reflect the predominantly positive effects of enhanced aesthetics (Nenkov and Scott 2014;Zellner et al. 2011). For instance, consumers report greater liking and willingness to pay for a food presented neatly on a plate as opposed to in a messy way (Zellner et al. 2011). ...
... Consumers' food evaluations and choices reflect the predominantly positive effects of enhanced aesthetics (Nenkov and Scott 2014;Zellner et al. 2011). For instance, consumers report greater liking and willingness to pay for a food presented neatly on a plate as opposed to in a messy way (Zellner et al. 2011). Consumers also have greater preference for foods in attractive packaging as opposed to primarily functional packaging (Reimann et al. 2010). ...
Article
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Some companies design processed foods to contain aesthetic imperfections such as non-uniformities in shape, color, or texture. Simultaneously, consumers annually discard millions of pounds of unprocessed, safe-to-eat fruits and vegetables owing to aesthetic imperfections. Why design processed foods with aesthetic imperfections when people discard unprocessed foods because of them? Seven studies, including a choice study at a grocery store and an incentive-compatible study, show that the effect of aesthetic imperfections on consumer preferences depends on whether foods are unprocessed or processed. While imperfections negatively influence preferences for unprocessed foods, they positively influence preferences for processed foods. We attribute this preference shift to consumers making opposing inferences about the human care involved in producing aesthetically imperfect processed and unprocessed foods. Building on research highlighting the positive effects of human presence in production, we thus show that perceived care drives food choice. We discuss implications for product design, retail promotion, and sustainability.
... In addition, although the specific effect of packaging appeal on product liking has not been explicitly investigated yet, some studies have explored how enhancing food appeal through design makes the food more palatable (Di Cicco et al., 2020;Michel et al., 2014;Techawachirakul et al., 2023;Zellner et al., 2010Zellner et al., , 2011Zellner et al., , 2014. For example, Michel et al. (2014) showed that plating inspired by a work of art increased the tastiness ratings of the food served on it, and Zellner et al. (2014) demonstrated that consumers reported liking the same food more when the plating was rated as more attractive. ...
... This research shows that implied motion imagery can increase product liking by enhancing design appeal. Previous studies have examined how liking is influenced by the impact of aesthetics (Michel et al., 2014;Zellner et al., 2010Zellner et al., , 2011Zellner et al., , 2014 or certain specific packaging cues (Di Cicco et al., 2020;Gil-P� erez et al., 2020), but the specific effect of packaging design appeal was yet to be assessed (for a discussion of aesthetics as a topic in psychology and neuroscience, see Skov and Nadal, 2020). This finding is consistent with other research suggesting that attractive packaging draws attention and can increase the hedonic value of the products it contains (Stoll et al., 2008), as well as the perceived product quality (Wang, 2013). ...
Article
Purpose This paper aims to investigate how implying movement in food packaging imagery may affect product liking. Furthermore, the underlying mechanism is investigated by studying the effect of implied motion visuals on design appeal and naturalness perception. Design/methodology/approach Two packages of pineapple juice were designed in which the implied motion depicted in their imagery was manipulated, and a tasting experiment was conducted in which two samples of the same juice were evaluated. Findings The results show that the effect of packaging imagery on product liking occurs indirectly through both design appeal and the product naturalness perception. The results of a parallel multiple-mediator analysis show that (1) depicting implied motion made the package be perceived as more appealing, (2) the product corresponding to the package depicting implied motion was perceived as being more natural, and (3) both effects equally contributed to the positive effect of visuals depicting implied motion on product liking. Originality/value Overall, these findings widen our understanding of the effects of packaging design on product liking and may help both designers and manufacturers design more appropriate packaging for their products.
... Oren et al. (2020) showed that when preference was tested for images of snacks, items with higher luminance (Milosavljevic et al., 2012) or higher saliency (Towal et al., 2013) were more likely to be chosen in forced choice tasks. Zellner et al. (2011) described how "visual properties of a food affect our expectations concerning its chemosensory qualities and also its hedonic value, for example. That clear beverages might be refreshing (Zellner and Durlach, 2003). ...
... That clear beverages might be refreshing (Zellner and Durlach, 2003). Zellner et al. (2011) also demonstrated the positive effect of neat arrangements on a plate. Rowley and Spence (2018) found that plates of food were liked more when the food on the plate was horizontally and/or centrally arranged. ...
Article
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Digital images taken by mobile phones are the most frequent class of images created today. Due to their omnipresence and the many ways they are encountered, they require a specific focus in research. However, to date, there is no systematic compilation of the various factors that may determine our evaluations of such images, and thus no explanation of how users select and identify relatively “better” or “worse” photos. Here, we propose a theoretical taxonomy of factors influencing the aesthetic appeal of mobile phone photographs. Beyond addressing relatively basic/universal image characteristics, perhaps more related to fast (bottom-up) perceptual processing of an image, we also consider factors involved in the slower (top-down) re-appraisal or deepened aesthetic appreciation of an image. We span this taxonomy across specific types of picture genres commonly taken—portraits of other people, selfies, scenes and food. We also discuss the variety of goals, uses, and contextual aspects of users of mobile phone photography. As a working hypothesis, we propose that two main decisions are often made with mobile phone photographs: (1) Users assess images at a first glance—by swiping through a stack of images—focusing on visual aspects that might be decisive to classify them from “low quality” (too dark, out of focus) to “acceptable” to, in rare cases, “an exceptionally beautiful picture.” (2) Users make more deliberate decisions regarding one’s “favorite” picture or the desire to preserve or share a picture with others, which are presumably tied to aspects such as content, framing, but also culture or personality, which have largely been overlooked in empirical research on perception of photographs. In sum, the present review provides an overview of current focal areas and gaps in research and offers a working foundation for upcoming research on the perception of mobile phone photographs as well as future developments in the fields of image recording and sharing technology.
... Both the appearance of food and its presentation are important factors that can influence the diners' reaction. For example, if the food arrangement is more attractive, the diners will have a more favorable evaluation in terms of liking the dish and they will be willing to pay more (Zellner et al., 2010;Zellner et al., 2011;Zellner et al., 2014;Michel et al., 2014;Michel et al., 2015). Multisensory cues from cutlery also influences the eating experience. ...
... For instance, when food is presented in a more pleasant way, people enjoy the food on the plate more (Zellner et al., 2014). Zellner et al. (2011) have also shown that neatly served foods are preferred over foods that are served less neatly. ...
Book
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Eating and drinking are undoubtedly amongst life’s most multisensory experiences. Take, for instance, the enjoyment of flavor, which is one of the most important elements of such experiences, resulting from the integration of gustatory, (retronasal) olfactory, and possibly also trigeminal/oral-somatosensory cues. Nevertheless, researchers have suggested that all our senses can influence the way in which we perceive flavor, not to mention our eating and drinking experiences. For instance, the color and shape of the food, the background sonic/noise cues in our eating environments, and/or the sounds associated with mastication can all influence our perception and enjoyment of our eating and drinking experiences. Human-Food Interaction (HFI) research has been growing steadily in recent years. Research into multisensory interactions designed to create, modify, and/or enhance our food-related experiences is one of the core areas of HFI (Multisensory HFI or MHFI). The aim being to further our understanding of the principles that govern the systematic connections between the senses in the context of HFI. In this Research Topic, we called for investigations and applications of systems that create new, or enhance already existing, multisensory eating and drinking experiences (what can be considered the “hacking” of food experiences) in the context of HFI. Moreover, we were also interested in those works that focus on or are based on the principles governing the systematic connections that exist between the senses. HFI also involves the experiencing of food interactions digitally in remote locations. Therefore, we were also interested in sensing and actuation interfaces, new communication mediums, and persisting and retrieving technologies for human food interactions. Enhancing social interactions to augment the eating experience is another issue we wanted to see addressed here, what has been referred to as “digital commensality”.
... An alternative to real food-which can be expensive and time-consuming to prepare-is using pictures of food instead, and in fact, applied in studies with children, pictures were revealed to have no statistical significant difference in reliability compared to real food [39]. Picture stimuli have been used in many studies to investigate preferences or willingness to buy food [12,[40][41][42]; some studies used both pictures and real food [43,44]. Hence, photographs were used in the present survey instead of a description of the dish solely. ...
... Since the reduced meat version was the most chosen option in general, it can be concluded that a balanced serving style, i.e., right amounts of all food items and thus a not too crowded or messy plate, is of higher relevance. This was shown to be true prior, as Zellner and colleagues showed in 2010 that a symmetric/balanced serving style in combination with a colour was rated as more attractive than an asymmetric one [71], and in 2011, that consumers liked a balanced serving style more than for a messy one [44]. Indeed, food appearance was shown to be an important aspect in meal choice [65]. ...
Article
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It is by now well established that a plant-based and meatless or reduced-meat diet is an important contribution to a sustainability and healthy diet. This work discusses important determinants for parents of implementing a meat reduced diet for their children. A questionnaire was conducted with 90 parents of children aged 5–8 years living in Germany, where they had to choose one out of three options of a dish, namely meaty, reduced meat and no meat, for their child. The results show that the parent’s attachment to meat and the associated attitudes and habits play a crucial role in their meal choice and therefore eating behaviour, including consumed amounts of meat, of their child. Moreover, perceived tastiness, healthiness and balanced serving style, as well as the child’s preferences influences the parent’s decision. The findings of this work provide valuable insights to the food industry and food producers, health professionals and public health, as it highlights the background, as well as some drivers and barriers for parents choosing a dish with less meat for their children.
... However, in previous studies on food and tableware, most evaluations were based on the appearance of the food at a single point in time without participants actually tasting it [5]. Only a few studies examined the changes in assessments before and after eating a meal [29][30][31][32]. In addition, in previous research when tasting the food, there was only one type of food (including beverages) or one plate provided, and the assessment of the food tended to be based on only a few basic variables such as taste, liking, palatability, and healthiness [1,29,30,33]. ...
... Only a few studies examined the changes in assessments before and after eating a meal [29][30][31][32]. In addition, in previous research when tasting the food, there was only one type of food (including beverages) or one plate provided, and the assessment of the food tended to be based on only a few basic variables such as taste, liking, palatability, and healthiness [1,29,30,33]. In contrast, this study uses a very different perspective than the previous studies by providing meals similar to people's typical eating habits. ...
Article
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In Japan, as in other countries, the externalization of food preparation is increasing. Japanese people are interested in the combination of food and tableware and they are concerned about transferring ready-made meals from plastic containers to natural tableware. This study aimed to examine the varying evaluations of meals due to differences in tableware. In this study, we investigated the effect of tableware on meal satisfaction, which is emphasized in Japanese culture. We studied the difference in the evaluation of ready-made meals (a rice ball, salad, croquette, and corn soup) before, during, and after a meal under two conditions: plastic tableware and natural wooden tableware. The results showed that there was no difference in the perceptual evaluation of taste and texture during the meal, except for the color of the salad and the temperature of the soup. On the other hand, meals served on natural wooden tableware were rated more positively than those served on plastic tableware before and after meals. These results suggest that, in Japan, the use of tableware, even for ready-made meals, increases the level of meal satisfaction. These findings have implications for both the providers and consumers of ready-made meals as well as the food industry.
... It is clearly seen in the studies that the visual appearance of the food on the plate has important contributions by the liking food (Zellner et al., 2011;Zellner et al., 2010), having more delicious (Piqueras-Fiszman et al., 2012a;Spence et al., 2014) or creating more payment requests (Zellner et al., 2011;Michel et al., 2015a). So, is it enough to focus only on visual properties in the perception of food? ...
... It is clearly seen in the studies that the visual appearance of the food on the plate has important contributions by the liking food (Zellner et al., 2011;Zellner et al., 2010), having more delicious (Piqueras-Fiszman et al., 2012a;Spence et al., 2014) or creating more payment requests (Zellner et al., 2011;Michel et al., 2015a). So, is it enough to focus only on visual properties in the perception of food? ...
... Therefore, physical appearance is a pivotal factor that affects food appreciation (Lyman, 1989). Several studies (e.g., Crreia et al., 2008;Namkung & Jang, 2007;Zellner et al., 2011) also noted that customer satisfaction is greatly influenced by the art of plating in luxurious restaurants. In this regard, the art of plating caused customers to share their meals' photos on social media as a way to express their self-image and thereby obtain a meaningful food experience (Liu, Norman, Backman, Cuneo, & Condrasky, 2012). ...
... It is well-known that people tend to spend more money on restaurants offering plating compositions rather than fast-food restaurants (Edwards, Meiselman, Edwards, & Lesher, 2003;Michel, Velasco, Fraemohs, & Spence, 2015). In this regard, Zellner et al. (2011) concluded that a meal that was served meticulously is liked more than a meal served in a scattered presentation. The authors applied two experiments in their research: Hummus and chicken salad. ...
Article
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This study aims to ascertain and understand the art of plating dimensions from the perspective of master chefs. A semi-structured interview method was conducted with sixteen master chefs in Turkey to address this research purpose. The gathered data was analyzed via content analysis. As a result, four interrelated dimensions were identified; design principles, target audience, the character of the chef, and characteristics of the food. The findings contribute to the research agenda on the plating phenomenon to better understand the main framework of the art of plating. Further, many practical implications were also offered for relevant practitioners of the restaurant industry. The study is one of the first attempts to explore the dimensions of the art of plating from the perspective of master chefs in the restaurant-marketing context.
... contribute to the formation of the "flavor system" (Small et al., 2004;Shepherd, 2006). A number of studies had pointed out that, in addition to the texture and appearance of the food itself affecting the taste and aroma of the food, the visual stimulation of the containers holding food or drinks in restaurants or supermarkets is closely related to the enjoyment and charm of the food (Shepherd, 2006;Zellner et al., 2010Zellner et al., , 2011Mielby et al., 2012;Piqueras-Fiszman et al., 2013). Hence, over the past two decades, many studies began to investigate these important aspects. ...
Article
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Prior research on the relationship between the taste, aroma and drinking utensils of beverages tends to focus on topics such as alcohol, sparkling beverages, juice, coffee, and hot chocolate. There is limited research focused on the interdependence between the perception of teacups and the tea taste. The literature has not yet found any research covering the impact of visual shape and the tactile sensation of teacups on the perception of tea flavor. Therefore, this study proposed six hypotheses related to the teacup shape and texture, teacup preference and taste and smell of tea. This study involved experimental design and questionnaire data collection, using a convenience sampling method to recruit 102 participants voluntarily. The research results are: (1) Age and gender have an impact on the taste and aroma perception of tea; (2) The width, height, rim thickness and smoothness of the teacup surface do have an impact on the perception of taste and fragrance of tea. (3) The preference of teacup played an intermediary effect between tea taste and the shape and texture of teacup. The implications of these findings on the perception of tea flavor are discussed.
... Jansen et al., (2010) found that the results indicated that visual appeal had a strong effect on consumption of the fruit. Zellner et al., (2011) further argue that Food served neatly is preferable to the same food served messy. Neatly presented food comes from restaurants with higher quality and more attention to preparation than food that is presented in a messy manner. ...
Article
The level of competition in the culinary sector continues to increase, both from national food businesses and the invasion of culinary company branches from abroad entering Indonesia. Customer satisfaction is the main key in winning the competition. The aim of this research is to examine the influence of food court aesthetics, customer emotions, and service quality on customer satisfaction at food courts in the East Jakarta area. This research succeeded in collecting data through a customer survey of 170 food court customers in Jakarta Timur Indonesia. The sampling method used in this research was convenience sampling. We use multiple regression analysis where customer satisfaction is the dependent variable and food court aesthetic factors, customer emotions, and the quality of service provided by the food court are exogenous variables. The collected data is then processed using the Smart PLS data processing tool. Partial Least Square measures two submodels, namely the outer measurement submodel or outer measurement model and the structural model or inner model or inner measurement submodel. The results of this research found that food court aesthetics, customer emotions, and service quality have a statistically significant effect on customer satisfaction. The implications and limitations of this research are also discussed in this article.
... Messiness and disorder are described with words such as "disorganized," "unsorted," "turbulent," "asymmetric," "non-straight," "scattered," "unlevel," "cluttered," "strewn at random," "chaotic," and "non-patterned." On the contrary, neatness and order are defined with terms such as "organized," "sorted," "structured," "symmetric," "straight," "level," "clear," "carefully placed," "coherent," and "patterned" (Chae & Zhu, 2014;Coskun, Gupta, & Burnaz, 2019;Coskun, Gupta, & Burnaz, 2020;Doucé, Janssens, Swinnen, & Van Cleempoel, 2014;Gilboa & Rafaeli, 2003;Gupta & Coskun, 2021;Kotabe, 2014;Kotabe, Kardan, & Berman, 2016;Li et al., 2019;Li et al., 2020;Ye, Huang, & Zhang, 2018;Zellner et al., 2011). However, messiness (vs. ...
... The angle of repose is important across food industry, from silo roof design to conveyor belt transport [716] and the geology of hillslopes [717] that limits farming. It also sets a fundamental rule for food plating, which in turn a↵ects the perception of taste [718], and the design of food sculptures [ Fig. 21b]. In this artwork the grains are sticky, but the weakest links are still susceptible to avalanche dynamics. ...
Article
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Innovations in fluid mechanics have been leading to better food since ancient history, while creativity in cooking has inspired fundamental breakthroughs in science. This review addresses how recent advances in hydrodynamics are changing food science and the culinary arts and, reciprocally, how the surprising phenomena that arise in the kitchen are leading to new discoveries across the disciplines, including molecular gastronomy, rheology, soft matter, biophysics, medicine, and nanotechnology. This review is structured like a menu, where each course highlights different aspects of culinary fluid mechanics. Our main themes include multiphase flows, complex fluids, thermal convection, hydrodynamic instabilities, viscous flows, granular matter, porous media, percolation, chaotic advection, interfacial phenomena, and turbulence. For every topic, an introduction and its connections to food are provided, followed by a discussion of how science could be made more accessible and inclusive. The state-of-the-art knowledge is then assessed, the open problems, along with the likely directions for future research and indeed future dishes. New ideas in science and gastronomy are growing rapidly side by side.
... Chefs and researchers have shown their interest on the effect of subtle changes in the visual presentation of a dish on sensory perception and consumers' overall liking. Zellner et al. [24] studied the effect of plating by comparing a neat versus a messy salad presentation. Their results showed that neatness increases adults' liking for the taste of the food and also their willingness to pay. ...
Chapter
Studying foods and beverages in the meal context is needed to better understand consumers’ behaviors toward products. Since Meiselman in 1992, who advocated for the study of real foods in real contexts with real people, researchers try to move beyond the lab. Nevertheless, moving towards more ecological studies is challenging and still needs further investigation due to the hidden variety behind the concept of meal. The present chapter describes the concept and components of a meal, the variables (related to the serving size, food and beverage combinations, and context) that may affect consumers’ evaluations, the current methods to be applied (contextual approaches and measurements), and the main aspects to consider when conducting consumer research on this field.Key wordsMeal evaluationsContextContextual variablesFoodstuffs
... Sight and followed by olfaction are the first senses enabling this decision to be made (Reisfelt, 2009). A good food presentation primarily appeals to the sense of sight (Zellner, 2011). Not only the visual presentation of the food, but also variables such as the color and shape of the plate can be effective in stimulating the desire to eat. ...
Article
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Neurogastronomy is a new formation that includes many researches to provide a connection between gastronomy and neurology. The existence of biological, emotional and cultural factors as flavor in the brain can be explained as neurogastronomy. The data received with the five senses are collected in the brain and perceived in its relevant parts. Research on what kind of perception is created with the formation of missing sensory data in the brain has been increasing day by day. In addition, by considering the different reflections of sensory data from reality, it is examined how they lead to perceptions in the brain. Plate design is very important in terms of visual presentation. What kind of an effect the presentation types of plate design have on customers and what kind of plate design they prefer is a matter of curiosity for researchers. Every stage of life continues in the light of technological developments. One of these technological developments is virtual reality. With the use of virtual reality in the field of neurogastronomy, it is possible to simulate the senses differently. This situation creates the possibility of causing different perceptions in the brain. In this study, neurogastronomy, the concepts of taste and flavor and the parameters affecting the perception of taste were addressed, the studies on the effect of plate presentation and atmosphere were examined, and information was conveyed by making a comprehensive literature review.
... Visual aesthetics of objects influence our behavior, the sight on the foods creates expectations of taste, flavor, and healthiness [18,[21][22][23]. Such that balanced food arrangements are rated as more attractive [12,24] and tend to lead to higher willingness to pay for the food, than unbalanced arrangements [12,25,26]. Symmetrical objects that highlight a balanced rhythm themselves are found to elicit a sense of quiet because of the repeated order [27]. ...
Article
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Focusing on the physical appearance of the food itself, and limiting the focus on shape to the concept of symmetry, this research investigated how food shape influences consumer perceptions of healthiness and naturalness and their subsequent food preferences. By conducting three empirical studies involving self-reported preference and trade-off choices, this research verified that it is a two-staged process of naturalness and healthiness that mediates the main effect of symmetry on foods preference. Furthermore, the incremental perceived unhealthiness of food would mitigate the positive effect of food symmetry. These findings are meaningful for food marketing managers and policymakers when making food-related decisions.
... Our data show that the willingness to eat other consumers' plate leftovers is associated with the appearance of these leftovers: "presumably the Bänderer will also select and not touch disgusting looking leftovers from unappealing looking people" (554). This can be compared to studies that have shown that liking of a meal increases when the meal is presented attractively and neatly [84,85]. ...
... Numerous studies also aim to understand what components of visual cues cognitively influence people's perceptual food tastes, such as color (Chatterjee, 2004;Spence et al., 2010), shape (Deroy and Valentin, 2011;Piqueras-Fiszman et al., 2012) and orientation (Michel et al., 2015). Zellner et al. (2011) further argue that visual complexity, such as the arrangement of food on the plate, could influence customers' dining experience . For example, Velasco et al. (2016) showed that people prefer balanced over unbalanced visual compositions when plating food. ...
Article
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and examine discrepancies of food aesthetics portrayed on social media across different types of restaurants using a large-scale data set of food images. Design/methodology/approach A neural food aesthetic assessment model using computer vision and deep learning techniques is proposed, applied and evaluated on the food images data set. In addition, a set of photographic attributes drawn from food services and cognitive science research, including color, composition and figure–ground relationship attributes is implemented and compared with aesthetic scores for each food image. Findings This study finds that restaurants with different rating levels, cuisine types and chain status have different aesthetic scores. Moreover, the authors study the difference in the aesthetic scores between two groups of image posters: customers and restaurant owners, showing that the latter group tends to post more aesthetically appealing food images about the restaurant on social media than the former. Practical implications Restaurant owners may consider performing more proactive social media marketing strategies by posting high-quality food images. Likewise, social media platforms should incentivize their users to share high-quality food images. Originality/value The main contribution of this paper is to provide a novel methodological framework to assess the aesthetics of food images. Instead of relying on a multitude of standard attributes stemming from food photography, this method yields a unique one-take-all score, which is more straightforward to understand and more accessible to correlate with other target variables.
... Principles of visual aesthetics (or beauty), including balance, order, symmetry, and pattern repetition, influence the visual appeal of foods (see Hagen, 2021;Spence, 2021a). For example, the neat, or artistic (e. g., contemporary), presentation of foods has often been shown to increase people's preferences when compared to standard, or messy, presentations (e.g., Michel, Velasco, Gatti, & Spence, 2014;Reimann, Zaichkowsky, Neuhaus, Bender, & Weber, 2010;Van Doorn, Colonna-Dashwood, Hudd-Baillie, & Spence, 2015;Zampollo, Kniffin, Wansink, & Shimizu, 2012a;Zellner et al., 2011;Zellner, Loss, Zearfoss, & Remolina, 2014). Similarly, people generally prefer a balanced visual presentation of the elements on the plate to an unbalanced one (Velasco, Michel, Woods, & Spence, 2016; see also Schifferstein, Kudrowitz, & Breuer, 2020;Zellner et al., 2010), even though the asymmetric presentation of food is associated with the perception of increased culinary creativity (see Roque, Guastavino, Lafraire, & Fernandez, 2018a;Szocs & Lefebvre, 2015). ...
Article
In recent years, a growing number of academic researchers, as well as many marketing and design practitioners, have uncovered a variety of factors that would appear to enhance the visual attractiveness, or deliciousness, of food images to the typical consumer. This review, which contains both narrative and systematic elements, critically evaluates the literature concerning the various factors influencing the eye appeal of food images, no matter whether there is an edible food stimulus physically present in front of the viewer or not. We start by summarizing the evidence concerning the human brain’s ability to rapidly determine energy-density in a visual scene and pay attention accordingly. Next, we focus on the importance of embodied mental simulation when it comes to enhancing visual deliciousness. Thereafter, we review the literature on the importance of visual aesthetic features in eye-appeal. The wide range of visual attributes that help to enhance food attractiveness include symmetry, shape, freshness, glossiness, dynamic-presentation, etc. The review concludes with sections on the importance of background/ambient lighting/colour, and the tricks used by those who digitally manipulate images. Taken together, therefore, many different factors ultimately influence the visual deliciousness of food images.
... We also examined three compound judgments of tastiness, healthiness, and price estimation. These three dependent variables have been the focus of attention in previous studies in the literature [4,5,36,37], because they are more representative of the overall consumer experience of food. Regarding healthiness, we followed Hagen's [32] definition of perceived healthiness as comprising a complex of high-benefit, high-nutrition, and lowcalorie concepts, which is consistent with the current dietary guidelines for understanding health. ...
Article
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Interest has been growing in the role of subjective aesthetics in the field of food. This study explored the mechanisms by which the aesthetic appeal of plate patterns influences consumers’ perceptions of food. Three experiments were conducted to compare whether different levels of beauty and types of plate pattern aesthetics (classical versus expressive) affected the perceptions of tastiness and healthiness of the food offered. Experiment 1 was carried out with 30 participants, and the results showed that participants perceived the food presented on more beautiful plates as tastier and healthier than the food on less beautiful plates. Experiment 2 was carried out with 128 participants; the results showed that, for expressively aesthetic plates, the participants experienced more positive emotions for very beautiful plates and more negative emotions for less beautiful plates. However, for classical aesthetic plates, participants’ emotions were not affected by the beauty of the plate. Experiment 3 was carried out with 149 participants, and the results showed that, for classically aesthetic plates, participants perceived the food placed in the middle to be tastier than food placed at the edge; however, for expressively aesthetic plates, food placement did not affect participants’ perceptions of food. These results demonstrate the importance of the subjective beauty of plate patterns in influencing consumers’ food perceptions, although this influence varies depending on the type of aesthetic design of the plate pattern.
... The angle of repose is important across food industry, from silo roof design to conveyor belt transport [666] and the geology of hillslopes [667] that limits farming. It also sets a fundamental rule for food plating, which in turn affects the perception of taste [668], and the design of food sculptures [ Fig. 21b]. In this artwork the grains are sticky, but the weakest links are still susceptible to avalanche dynamics. ...
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Innovations in fluid mechanics have refined food since ancient history, while creativity in cooking inspires science in return. Here, we review how recent advances in hydrodynamics are changing food science, and we highlight how the surprising phenomena that arise in the kitchen lead to discoveries and technologies across the disciplines, including rheology, soft matter, biophysics and molecular gastronomy. This review is structured like a menu, where each course highlights different aspects of culinary fluid mechanics. Our main themes include multiphase flows, complex fluids, thermal convection, hydrodynamic instabilities, viscous flows, granular matter, porous media, percolation, chaotic advection, interfacial phenomena, and turbulence. For every topic, we first provide an introduction accessible to food professionals and scientists in neighbouring fields. We then assess the state-of-the-art knowledge, the open problems, and likely directions for future research. New gastronomic ideas grow rapidly as the scientific recipes keep improving too.
... Our data show that the willingness to eat other consumers' plate leftovers is associated with the appearance of these leftovers: "presumably the Bänderer will also select and not touch disgusting looking leftovers from unappealing looking people" (554). This can be compared to studies that have shown that liking of a meal increases when the meal is presented attractively and neatly [84,85]. ...
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A considerable amount of food is discarded in canteens every day. This waste has created a countermovement, where groups of mainly students purposefully choose to eat other consumers’ plate leftovers instead of buying fresh meals. This phenomenon highlights two opposing narratives: leftovers as food waste versus leftovers as edible food resources. Using a thematic analysis, we investigated 1579 comments from German news sites and their corresponding Facebook sites related to this countermovement. Thereby, we aim to better understand what consumers associate with the consumption of other consumers’ plate leftovers. Our study demonstrates that the consumption of plate leftovers is shaped by the regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive system. Furthermore, associations with the consumption of plate leftovers depend on whether this food decision is perceived as a collective or individual consumer decision. From a consumer movement perspective, food leftover consumption is associated with a sense of community and food waste reduction for idealistic or environmental and social reasons. From an individual consumer behavior perspective, food leftover consumption is associated with satisfying hunger but considered a threat to health and social order. Our findings can inspire food service organizations to develop targeted interventions for plate leftover reduction.
... Not having a pattern in food plating may be one of the reasons for the increased consumption of palatable foods observed in individuals born SGA. The relevance of food arrangement has been previously demonstrated, indicating that individuals "eat first with their eyes", being willing to pay more, to increase their liking, or to increase their intent to eat more when foods are presented in a visually more appealing manner (Cavazza et al., 2015;Zellner et al., 2011Zellner et al., , 2014. Meal layout planning also helps to decide on the kind and quantity of food to be eaten, and is an adequate dietary intervention to reduce metabolic risk, including the glycemic index (Camelon et al., 1998;Jayawardena et al., 2017;Raidl et al., 2007). ...
Article
While classically linked to memory, the hippocampus is also a feeding behavior modulator due to its multiple interconnected pathways with other brain regions and expression of receptor for metabolic hormones. Here we tested whether variations in insulin sensitivity would be correlated with differential brain activation following exposure to palatable food cues, as well as with variations in implicit food memory in a cohort of healthy adolescents, some of whom were born small for gestational age (SGA). Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) was positively correlated with activation in the cuneus, and negatively correlated with activation in the middle frontal lobe, superior frontal gyrus and precuneus when presented with palatable food images versus non-food images in healthy adolescents. Additionally, HOMA-IR and insulinemia were higher in participants with impaired food memory. SGA individuals had higher snack caloric density and greater chance for impaired food memory. There was also an interaction between the HOMA-IR and birth weight ratio influencing external eating behavior. We suggest that diminished insulin sensitivity correlates with activation in visual attention areas and inactivation in inhibitory control areas in healthy adolescents. Insulin resistance also associated with less consistency in implicit memory for a consumed meal, which may suggest lower ability to establish a dietary pattern, and can contribute to obesity. Differences in feeding behavior in SGA individuals were associated with insulin sensitivity and hippocampal alterations, suggesting that cognition and hormonal regulation are important components involved in food intake modifications throughout life.
... For instance, when food is presented in a more pleasant way, people enjoy the food on the plate more (Zellner et al., 2014). Zellner et al. (2011) have also shown that neatly served foods are preferred over foods that are served less neatly. ...
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Among the senses of food, our subjective sense of taste is significantly influenced by our visual perception. In appetite science, previous research has reported that when we estimate quality in daily life, we rely considerably on visual information. This study focused on the multimodal mental imagery evoked by the visual information of food served on a plate and examined the effect of the peripheral visual information of garnish on the sensory impression of the main dish. A sensory evaluation experiment was conducted to evaluate the impressions of food photographs, and multivariate analysis was used to structure sensory values. It was found that the appearance of the garnish placed on the plates close to the main dish contributes to visual appetite stimulants. It is evident that color, moisture, and taste (sourness and spiciness) play a major role in the acceptability of food. To stimulate one’s appetite, it is important to make the main dish appear warm. These results can be used to modulate the eating experience and stimulate appetite. Applying these results to meals can improve the dining experience by superimposing visual information with augmented reality technology or by presenting real appropriate garnishes.
... Likewise, the off-center design of our asymmetrical design could be displeasing or appear disorganized to some participants. In their study on food plating aesthetics, Zellner et al. (2011) manipulated the neatness of food presentation and measured food liking. They found a positive relationship between neatness and liking, which they suggest may be modulated by perceived quality. ...
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When do aesthetic properties convey the concept of premiumness? Is symmetry tied to the perception of premiumness due to symmetry’s evolutionary association to quality, an association not present with other aesthetic features like curvature? Usually, symmetry and curvature are preferred features. However, preference itself may not suffice to evoke premiumness. With this in mind, we predicted that symmetry (vs. asymmetry) and high (vs. low) product quality would both increase the perception of premiumness of a product while curvature (curved vs. angular) would only do so when it aligned with product quality. We conducted two preliminary exploratory experiments and four pre-registered experiments in which we manipulated product quality, symmetry, and curvature of product packaging and measured preference and premiumness perception. We conducted four additional experiments using a different product category to assess the generalizability of our results. We found that while both symmetry and curvature affect preference, only symmetry affects premiumness perception. Importantly, our results indicate that the extent to which aesthetic features convey brand premiumness can be product-specific. We suggest a theoretical model on when visual aesthetic properties convey premiumness. Overall, our study informs how subtle aesthetic elements play a role in value perception, something which firms can capitalize on.
... Both the appearance of food and its presentation are important factors that can influence the diners' reaction. For example, if the food arrangement is more attractive, the diners will have a more favorable evaluation in terms of liking the dish and they will be willing to pay more (Zellner et al., 2010;Zellner et al., 2011;Zellner et al., 2014;Michel et al., 2014;Michel et al., 2015). Multisensory cues from cutlery also influences the eating experience. ...
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The appearance of food affects its taste. Many studies have examined how to improve the taste of foods by manipulating their appearance. Most of those studies have focused on static appearances, such as color and texture; however, the impact of the dynamic appearance has not been explored. In this study, the perceptions (sweetness, sourness, saltiness, spiciness, temperature, deliciousness) and value judgments (the price of food, appetite) perceived from food before and after tasting with a projection-based dynamic boiling texture were investigated. The results revealed that the dynamic texture influences expectations for saltiness, spiciness, temperature, deliciousness, price, and appetite before eating the meal and perceived saltiness, spiciness, and appetite when eating. In addition, its influence on the consumers’ behavior was also investigated through an empirical user study in a restaurant. The results indicated that the consumers had a greater tendency to order the meal when they saw it with the projection-based boiling effect. From these, this study demonstrates the effect of projection mapping of a boiling effect on food expectation, perception and consumer behavior.
... For instance, when the food is presented in a more pleasant way, people enjoy the food on the plate more (Zellner et al., 2014). Zellner et al. (2011) have also shown that neatly served foods are preferred over foods that are served less neatly. ...
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Among the senses of food, our sense of taste is significantly influenced by our perception. In appetite science, previous research reported that when we make estimate the quality in daily life, we rely considerably on visual information (Carlos et al., 2012). In this study, we focused on the multimodal mental imagery (Nanay, 2018) evoked by the visual information of food served on a plate and examined the effect of the peripheral visual information: garnish, on the sensory impression of the main dish. We conducted a sensory evaluation experiment to evaluate the impressions of food photographs and structured the sensory values using multivariate analysis. We found that the appearance of the garnish placed on the plates close to the main meal contributes to appetite arousal. Here we show that color, moisture, and taste (sourness and spices) play a major role in the decision. In order to arouse one’s appetite, it is important to make the main dish appear warmer. Our results can be used to modulate eating experience and appetite arousal. Applying these results for meals can contribute toward making the dining experience more attractive by superimposing visual information on it with XR technology, or by presenting real appropriate garnishes.
... This is in line with the research of other authors. Zellner et al. [73] and Zellner et al. [74] provided scientific evidence that foods presented in a less neat manner are less liked. Similar to our findings, results of studies with novel salad dressings [75,76] and with other novel foods [77] indicated a higher mean of expected acceptability in a group of neophiliacs than neophobics. ...
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Modern cuisine served at top-end restaurants attempts to attract customers, who increasingly demand new flavor, pleasure and fun. The materials were six dishes prepared using lemon or tomatoes and made in the traditional (classical), molecular and Note by Note (NbN) versions. The study explores sensory characteristics, consumer liking of key attributes, their declared sensations and emotions, as well as consumers’ facial expressions responding to the dishes. These objectives were investigated by descriptive quantitative analysis and consumer tests. Tests included a 9-point hedonic scale for degree of liking a dish, Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) for declared sensations and FaceReader for facial expressions. The influence of factors associated with consumer attitudes toward new food and willingness to try the dishes in the future were also determined. It was stated that the product profiles represent different sensory characteristics due to the technology of food production and the ingredients used. The food neophobia and consumer innovativeness had a significant (p ≤ 0.05) effect on liking. The odor-, flavor-, texture- and overall-liking of the NbN dishes were lower than that of traditional versions but did not vary from scores for molecular samples. The expected liking of NbN dishes was higher than experienced-liking. Traditional and modern products differed in CATA terms. Classical dishes were perceived by consumers as more tasty, traditional and typical while modern cuisine dishes were perceived as more surprising, intriguing, innovative and trendy. Mimic expressions assessment by FaceReader showed similar trends in some emotions in both classical dishes and separate temporal patterns in modern products.
... The appearance and flavor of food and beverage (Baiomy & Jones, 2016;Clemes et al., 2013;Ouyang, Behnke, Almanza, & Ghiselli, 2017;Rozin & Rozin, 1981;Shepherd, 2011;Spence, 2017;Yüksel, 2007;Zhang et al., 2018) and interviews Plating (Velasco et al., 2016;Woods et al., 2016;Wu & Liang, 2009;Zellner, Loss, Zearfoss, & Remolina, 2014;Debra A.;Zellner et al., 2011) and interviews The items and design of menu (Baiomy & Jones, 2016;Hou et al., 2015) and interviews Tableware (Clemes et al., 2013;Ryu & Jang, 2008;Spence, 2017; Tuzunkan & Albayrak, 2016) Performance and activity Interviews Employees' expressions (Berry & Parasuraman, 2004;Chun;Hanks & Line, 2018;Kang & Hyun, 2012;Tsaur et al., 2015;Chun Wang et al., 2016) and interviews and interviews Employees' physical movement and gesture (Chun Wang et al., 2016;Kang & Hyun, 2012) and interviews Employees' introduction, communication, and storytelling (Chen et al., 2016;Chun;Kang & Hyun, 2012;Chun Wang et al., 2016) and interviews Nickson et al., 2003;Ryu & Jang, 2008;Tsaur et al., 2015;Yüksel & Yüksel, 2002) and interviews Employee's Voice (Nickson et al., 2003) and interviews Employee's Body smell (Yüksel, 2007) and interviews Other customer's aesthetic traits ...
Article
For chasing a harmonic condition among all elements and customers' positive emotion-pleasure in a restaurant, this study constructs a holistic aesthetic experience model within the context of a restaurant through the consensus opinions of experts who have aesthetics-related experience and work in the restaurant relevant organizations. This study adopted a mixed study, multiple-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach for forming a solid and practical model. Four dimensions—physical environment, product and service, employee's aesthetic traits, and other customer's aesthetic traits —and twenty-three with an influential network relation map (INRM) for finding the roots of influence and influential weights for the further practitioners' decision making. The study contributes to the aesthetic theory and practical implementation in the hospitality industry.
... This may have been a result of the perception of a messier appearance of the fruit and nuts on the plate as well as a result of the low amount of cake. Perception of messiness can have a detrimental effect on liking (Zellner et al., 2011) and the low amount of cake may have seemed insufficient, as many subjects in the comments indicated that they found the low amount of cake a visual mismatch with their expectations for a cake dessert. While some liked the appearance of the dessert with a high amount of fruit, others found the simpler, conventional presentation of the low fruit dessert more attractive and appealing. ...
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American adults consume excess added sugar and saturated fat, and not enough fruit. A possible solution is the “Dessert Flip,” a shift in which the proportions of more sustainable plant‐based garnishes, such as fruit and nuts, are increased, while the proportion of conventional dessert is reduced. We hypothesized that the pleasing properties of fruits and nuts—color, variety, flavor, and texture—would allow the Dessert Flip to be liked as well or better than a conventional dessert by college‐aged students in a dining hall. In a sensory test, participants (n = 118) significantly preferred plated flipped desserts—those containing 80% by weight fruit (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and mangoes) and nuts with 20% cake—over the conventional versions of those desserts with 80% cake and 20% fruit and nuts. No significant differences were found in overall liking. In a second experiment, after eating an entrée, participants (n = 150) chose pictures of multiple varieties of flipped cakes with 60% fruit and 40% cake significantly more than pictures of conventional 80% cake for dessert. Based on the U.S. average fruit prices, the Dessert Flip can be equal or lower in price per serving compared to an ungarnished typically sized cake. We conclude that the Dessert Flip offers a feasible option for increasing servings of fruits and nuts in desserts as well as reducing added sugar and saturated fat while maintaining sensory appeal. Future dietary guidelines could include this general strategy as a recommendation for helping adults include more fruits in their diets. Practical Application The Dessert Flip offers an appetizing way for foodservice to promote healthier eating by increasing servings of fruits and nuts in their desserts while reducing added sugar and saturated fat. Consumers can try this strategy at home by cutting a smaller piece of cake and adding fruit on the side.
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TR: Aşçıların özenle tasarladığı ve insanların günümüzde sosyal medya paylaşımlarında da karşımıza çıkan yemekler tabağa özenle yerleştirilmeden önce bir tasarım sürecinden geçmektedir. Tabaklanan ve sunulan yemeklerin insanları etkilemesi bu yemeklerin tasarımının başarısına, malzemelerin harmonisine bağlıdır. Yemek tasarımı ilkelerine uyan ve bu konuda yetenekli aşçılar tüketicileri etkileyerek başarı sağlayabilir. Yapay zekanın giderek hayatımıza dahil olduğu günümüzde gastronomi alanında da bu yapay zeka ürünlerinden faydalanmak mümkündür. Aşçıların tasarım süreçlerinde kullanabileceği yapay zeka modellerinden biri Bing görsel oluşturucudur. Bu çalışmada Bing görsel oluşturucu kullanılarak farklı yemek görselleri oluşturulmuş ve değerlendirilmiştir. Bing görsel oluşturucunun genel performansının oldukça tatmin edici olduğu söylenebilir. Fakat kullanırken dikkat edilmesi gereken, aşçıların istediği yemek görseline ulaşım açısından yapay zekanın performansını olumsuz yönde etkileyebilen hususlar bulunmaktadır. ENG: The dishes, carefully designed by chefs and now frequently encountered in people's social media posts, go through a design process before being artfully arranged on the plate. The ability of plated and presented dishes to captivate individuals depends on the success of their design and the harmony of their ingredients. Chefs who adhere to the principles of food design and are skilled in this area can achieve success by impressing consumers. In today's world, where artificial intelligence is increasingly integrated into our lives, it's also possible to benefit from these AI tools in the field of gastronomy. One of the artificial intelligence models that chefs can utilize in their design processes is Bing Image Creator. In this study, different food images were created using Bing visual generator and these images were evaluated. It can be said that the overall performance of Bing Image Creator is quite satisfactory. However, it should be noted that there are aspects to consider while using it, as the performance of artificial intelligence can negatively impact the desired food images for chefs.
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Tüketicilerin gıda algısı, duyusal özelliklere ek olarak beklentileri tarafından da etkilenmektedir. Yiyecek içecek işletmelerinde, yiyeceklerin sunumu ve görsel faktörleri tüketicilerin beğeni düzeyi ve hedonik deneyimleri üzerinde etki oluşturmaktadır. Bu faktörleri, tabak büyüklüğü, tabağın rengi, ürünün rengi, atmosfer vb. oluşturmaktadır. Yapılan araştırma sonuçlarına göre, sunum yapılan tabağın genişliği arttıkça algılanan hizmet kalitesinin de arttığı ortaya konulmuştur. Diğer bir araştırma, sunum yapılan tabakların rengindeki farklılık, servis edilen ürünün aynı olmasına rağmen hedonik ve duyusal açıdan farklı algılandığını göstermiştir. Restoran atmosferi, her ne kadar önemsiz görünse de tüketici deneyimleri üzerine etki eden bir unsurdur. Atmosfer müşterilerin olumlu/olumsuz duygularını ve işletmeleri tekrar ziyaret etme niyetini etkilemektedir. Alan yazın taraması sonucunda, tabak renk değişkeninin genellikle iki farklı renk ile sınırlandırıldığı tespit edilmiş olup, gıda renklendirilmesi ile ilgili çalışma sayısının ise çok kısıtlı olduğu saptanmıştır. Nörogastronomi alanında yapılan çalışmalar tat duyusunu körelmesine sebep olan hastalıklara (Pankreas, Alzheimer, obezite, yaşlılık vb.) yakalanan kişilerin tat alma duyusunda pozitif yönde etki yapmıştır. Mevcut çalışmamız da nörogastronomi alanı ile ilgili olduğu için bu konuda toplumsal bir fayda sağlayacaktır. Mevcut araştırmamız nitel araştırma deseninde gerçekleştirilecek olup, doküman analizi veri edinme tekniği kullanılarak ilgili literatür taranmıştır. Ampirik çalışmalara dayanarak sonuç ve öneriler sunulmuştur. Bu araştırmanın özgün değeri, renklerin tüketici tercihleri üzerindeki etkilerini belirlemeyi yenilikçi bir yaklaşım ile gerçekleştirmesinden kaynaklanmaktadır. İlgili alan yazın incelenmesi sonucunda 1994-2005 yılları arasında nörogastronomi kavramının hiç anılmadığı sonucuna varılmıştır.
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Background Food aesthetics influences affective dimensions (valence and arousal) and subsequent emotional and behavioural responses in images presented in more traditional form, almost rustic in some cases, to the signature dishes of haute cuisine. However, the visual impact of images of haute cuisine dishes on consumers’ affective and emotional responses compared to traditional dishes is still understudied. Methods We recorded electrodermal activity, ocular movements and self-report affect of 35 volunteers while they performed a picture viewing paradigm using images of haute cuisine food, traditional food, and non-food. Additionally, the moderating role of age was examined. Results Our results showed that subjects had higher feelings of pleasure and arousal toward images of food (haute cuisine and traditional dishes) compared to non-food images. However, no difference in self-report affect, physiological and behavioural responses was found between haute cuisine and traditional dishes. Interestingly, a moderating effect of age was revealed, reporting that younger participants had greater feelings of pleasure and shorter eye-to-screen distance towards traditional food than haute cuisine. Conclusions As a whole, our findings suggest that food aesthetics could at least partially affect consumers’ affective and emotional responses. Interestingly, physiological responses to food pictures seemed to be relatively independent of approach/avoidance motivational states, supporting the assumption that traditional visual restaurant menus with attractive images might be insufficient for eliciting intense positive emotions. This study also contributes to advancing the understanding of the role that age plays in emotional impact when images of haute cuisine dishes are presented to consumers.
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Diabetes Mellitus is a metabolic disease that can cause serious damage to the human body if left untreated. High blood sugar level is among the symptoms of this disease, and nutrition therapy is very important in its treatment. On the other hand, breakfast is notable for being the first meal of the day and for containing high-sugar products in terms of nutritional content. Within the scope of the present research, a study was carried out using a semi-structured interview form in order to obtain information about the consumption trends of high sugar-containing and/or diabetic breakfast products in 19 diabetic patients and their situation of producing these products at home. In the study, it was observed that there were significant differences between the participants' tendencies to purchase, produce and consume these products regarding diabetic breakfast products. As a result, when homemade diabetic breakfast products were compared with industrial diabetic foods, it was seen that taste and consistency parameters became prominent. Rapid deterioration and maintaining these products' consistency, color and sweetness were among the difficulties encountered while preparing homemade diabetic breakfast products. It was determined that the participants used stevia, honey, molasses, dates, sweetener, carob, sugar alcohol and cinnamon as sugar substitutes, and pectin, dried nuts, dates and boiling process for thickening the product in making diabetic breakfast products at home. Websites and social media were the most common platforms where participants search for diabetic breakfast recipes. Besides, the participants also stated that diabetic product options were insufficient in out-of-home breakfast places.
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Dish names and dish images can be widely found online, providing consumers with important information. Meanwhile, implied explosion (i.e., the perception of explosion induced by static stimuli) is increasingly utilized by real-world restaurants. The present research thus combines dish names, dish images, and implied explosion to examine the impact of implied explosion on various aspects of consumer behavior within a restaurant context. Three experiments demonstrated that exploding dish names and exploding dish images (i.e., dish names/dish images showing implied explosion) can create a more intense taste perception and a more favorable taste evaluation. Additionally, exploding dish images can enhance perceived dish liking and increase consumers’ willingness to pay. The present research suggests that exploding dish names/dish images are subtle but effective communication tools for the tourism industry, helping to deliver a more stimulating perception and experience to consumers and to generate higher margins. By exploring the effects of implied explosion, we also introduce the implied motion concept to the tourism management literature.
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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
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Рутинський М. Й., Зайченко В. В. Концепція «food plating» у ресторанному бізнесі України. Індустрія туризму і гостинності в Центральній та Східній Європі. 7. 2022. С. 43-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.32782/tourismhospcee-7-6
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Besin sunumunda yapılan küçük değişiklikler besin seçimlerini etkileyebilmektedir. Bu araştırmanın amacı tabak renginin besin algısına etkisini belirlemektir. Araştırmaya 18 yaş üstü 40 gönüllü kız öğrenci katılmıştır. Araştırmada siyah, beyaz, kırmızı renkte, her renkten iki tane, 17 cm çapında, desensiz, toplam altı tane düz tabak kullanılmıştır. Tabakların üç tanesine düzenli, diğer üç tabağa ise dağınık bir şekilde boyutları birbirine yakın bir ızgara köfte (30g) ve üç dilim kızarmış patates (30g) koyulmuştur. Her katılımcıdan bir tane tabak seçmesi ve seçtiği tabaktaki besinleri çekicilik, deneme istekliliği, beğeni ve baharat algısı açısından değerlendirmesi istenmiştir. Değerlendirme için görsel analog skalası (1 en kötü-9 en iyi besin algısı) kullanılmıştır. Katılımcıların çoğunun (%70) düzenli tabağı tercih ettiği saptanmıştır. Kırmızı tabaktaki besinlerin çekicilik, isteklilik ve beğeni algısı siyah tabağa göre önemli düzeyde daha yüksektir (p<0,001). Kırmızı, beyaz ve siyah tabaklar arasında besinlerin baharat algısı açısından önemli düzeyde fark yoktur (p>0,05). Araştırmanın sonucunda; besinlerin kırmızı tabakta sunumunun besini deneme isteğini, çekiciliğini, beğenisini arttırdığı bulunmuştur.
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In this study we analyze how the visual impact influences consumers, in particular considering the way a food is presented, exploring in this way how food marketing is also a question of food appearance. Do we eat firstly with our eyes? And if yes, which are the consequences of this process on food marketing strategies? Literature highlights that the way food is presented produces effects from a celebral and a physiological point of view, but also how it affects taste. In the first part of this research literature has been explored, paying attention in particular on hunger as a process which begins from eyes and, secondly,on how neatness makes food more desiderable. The second part of the study shows our experiment on consumers. Specifically 71 subjects were involeved, divided into four groups, that had to observe and evaluate some plates of fruit and bresaola, once arranged neatly, once disorderly. Data have been gathered and analyzed, in particular highlighting consumers' expectation about the tastiness of the food and how much they would have spent to eat that food. Finally we discuss about the findings, in....
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Plate is a kitchen tool that emerged with the birth of civilization, used to put food, and gained an artistic dimension over time. It is seen that the presentations on the plates show various changes until today. In the study, the plates used in pastry and the change in presentations were examined. Qualitative research method was preferred in the study. Data ere collected using document review and internet sourced data. The universe of the research consists of the pastry presentation photos on the instagram pages of the people selected as the "World's Best Pastry Chef" by "The World's 50 Best Restaurants". The sample group consists of the pastry presentation photos shared by Dominique Ansel, Cedric Grolet and Jessica Préalpato, who were selected as the "World's Best Pastry Chef" by "The World's 50 Best Restaurants", on their Instagram pages between March 1, 2020 and March 1, 2021. The obtained data were analyzed using the content analysis technique. It is seen that the pastry presentations shared by the chefs on their Instagram pages are mostly made in a single portion, on the counter or on a plate. The plates used are usually round, white and standard sizes. It has been determined that naturalness and minimalist structure are at the forefront in the presentations.
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Coğrafi İşaretli Ürünlerin Destinasyon Tanıtımındaki Yeri: Hayrabolu Tatlısı Örneği
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Previous research has suggested that people prefer balanced over unbalanced plating compositions. Importantly, though, the question remains as to whether plating balance influences consumers’ associations of plating with approach and avoidance motivation. In the present research, we study how plating balance influence people’s aesthetic evaluations and approach and avoidance associations. In addition, based on the idea that context can influence aesthetic evaluations, we manipulate whether the different plates are presented in regular dining or high-end restaurant scenarios. Throughout two experiments we extend previous findings suggesting that plating balance influences aesthetic pleasure. We find that balanced plates are considered more aesthetically pleasing than unbalanced plates. Furthermore, we demonstrate that people associate balanced plates more (less) strongly with approach (avoidance) words relative to unbalanced plates. Notably, our analysis failed to reveal an effect of plating context on either aesthetic pleasure or approach and avoidance ratings. This suggests that balance may be a robust feature in aesthetic plating when it comes to its influence on these variables.
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This article aims to understand how and why a separated serving style of food (i.e., serving foods based on ingredient while maintaining their separation with no sides touching on a plate) influences calorie estimates and eating behavior. Results from two studies show that participants significantly underestimate the calorie content of their food and decrease food consumption in a separated (vs. mixed) serving style. Separate‐style foodservice calls attention to the act of eating and serves as a tool to facilitate weight management. In our studies, participants demonstrated a belief that separated (vs. mixed) food serving has the capacity to affect weight (rather than health attributes) and thereby influences calorie estimates. Even with unhealthy (e.g., fried snacks) foods, the separated serving style still makes the food appear less caloric, and increases self‐monitoring. In other words, the self‐monitoring that results from the serving of foods separately creates an anchoring effect, which decreases overall food consumption. This circumstance suggests that the visual arrangement of food intake has potential implications for food consumption and weight management. Practical applications In an era of increasing obesity and the erosion of healthy eating habits, it is important to identify factors that can help people maintain both a healthier weight and diet. Our findings are particularly concerned with food serving design. Given that the separate intake of foods can lower one's caloric estimates of the serving, marketing personnel would do well to formulate strategies with this in mind. These findings further emphasize the potential impact of a visual separation of foods on consumers' eating behavior. The separated serving style could be a way of increasing self‐monitoring in order to control one's food intake. While previous research supports children's preference for food arranged in a separated serving style to allow for personal eating habits, no study has yet examined the effects (e.g., food evaluation and eating behavior) of a separated serving style among adults. Especially for dieters, adults tend to arrange their meals in a separated serving style. With preexisting evidence of the positive effects of a separate serving style in mind, this article expands the application of this food style to devise an effective strategy for an active and consistent reduction of unhealthy food consumption.
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Aims to understand the different psychological factors (like colour, culture, mood and emotions, illusions, familiarity, and consumer demand) which influences a chef when plating a dessert in a high end restaurants.
Article
The visual presentation of food plays an important role in shaping the food choices that consumers make. In the current research, we explore the impact that one's eating manner, and by extension, how messy or neat food becomes as a result, can have on enjoyment and consumption over the course of an eating episode. In a series of five studies, we find that eating in a messy manner, which degrades the visual appeal of one's food, can accelerate the rate of satiation and decrease consumption, a phenomenon we term the messy satiation effect. This effect occurs because the disgust response induced by the visual degradation of a food's presentation decreases tastiness perceptions. Accordingly, we position the messy satiation effect as a simple intervention that can be used in some circumstances to combat overconsumption and therefore increase healthier eating patterns through reducing intake, thus providing contributions to both theory and practice.
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This systematic overview tries to link scientific knowledge on human perception and appreciation mechanisms to culinary practices. We discuss the roles of the human senses during eating, starting out with basic mechanisms of taste and smell perception, up to principles of aesthetics. These insights are related to how foods are experienced, how ingredients are combined, the use of flavor bases in cuisines, the creation of a full course meal, the choice of a beverage with a dish, and how people learn to appreciate new foods.
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Presents a theory of norms and normality and applies the theory to phenomena of emotional responses, social judgment, and conversations about causes. Norms are assumed to be constructed ad hoc by recruiting specific representations. Category norms are derived by recruiting exemplars. Specific objects or events generate their own norms by retrieval of similar experiences stored in memory or by construction of counterfactual alternatives. The normality of a stimulus is evaluated by comparing it with the norms that it evokes after the fact, rather than to precomputed expectations. Norm theory is applied in analyses of the enhanced emotional response to events that have abnormal causes, of the generation of predictions and inferences from observations of behavior, and of the role of norms in causal questions and answers. (3 p ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The purpose of this article is to examine the role of homemade food in the construction of family identity. The article examines how homemade, its interface with markets’ competing food offerings, and intergenerational perspectives on homemade can cast light on competing understandings of the family, social relationships, and the market. Using two empirical studies conducted in a Midwestern cultural setting, findings highlight the importance of family meanings of homemade food, the role of homemade food in demarcating the realms of the family and market, the influence of producer-consumer relationships on threats posed by the market to a coherent family identity, and the qualitative changes in the social reproduction of family identities that result from divergences in homemade food meanings and practices across generations.
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The authors report a study of the effects of price, brand, and store information on buyers' perceptions of product quality and value, as well as their willingness to buy. Hypotheses are derived from a conceptual model positing the effects of extrinsic cues (price, brand name, and store name) on buyers' perceptions and purchase intentions. Moreover, the design of the experiment allows additional analyses on the relative differential effects of price, brand name, and store name on the three dependent variables. Results indicate that price had a positive effect on perceived quality, but a negative effect on perceived value and willingness to buy. Favorable brand and store information positively influenced perceptions of quality and value, and subjects' willingness to buy. The major findings are discussed and directions for future research are suggested.
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Comparing food taboos across 78 cultures, this paper demonstrates that meat, though a prized food, is also the principal target of proscriptions. Reviewing existing explanations of taboos, we é nd that both functionalist and symbolic approaches fail to account for meat' s cross-cultural centrality and do not reè ect experience-near aspects of food taboos, principal among which is disgust. Adopting an evolutionary approach to the mind, this paper presents an alternative to existing explanations of food taboos. Consistent with the attendant risk of pathogen transmission, meat has special salience as a stimulus for humans, as animal products are stronger elicitors of disgust and aversion than plant products. We identify three psychosocial processes, socially-mediated ingestive conditioning, egocentric empathy , and normative moralization , each of which likely plays a role in transforming individual disgust responses and conditioned food aversions into institutionalized food taboos.
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Investigated the operation of 2 laws of sympathetic magic in 50 American adults (aged 17–50 yrs) using both measurements in the laboratory and questionnaire response. The 1st law, contagion, holds that "once in contact, always in contact." That is, there can be a permanent transfer of properties from one object (usually animate) to another by brief contact. The 2nd law, similarity, holds that "the image equals the object" and that action taken on an object affects similar objects. It was shown that drinks that had briefly contacted a sterilized, dead cockroach become undesirable and that laundered shirts previously worn by a disliked person were less desirable than those previously worn by a liked or neutral person. The law of similarity was demonstrated by showing that Ss rejected acceptable foods shaped into a form that represents a disgusting object and that Ss were less accurate at throwing darts at pictures of the faces of people they like. Evidence was found for the operation of the laws of sympathetic magic in all Ss studied. The laws of sympathetic magic correspond to the 2 basic laws of association (contiguity and similarity). The parallel is discussed, and a disgust-conditioning study to develop this parallel is reported. (29 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The study of eye movements has been very successful in providing empirical support for theoretical writings concerning the influence of pictorial balance on perceptual processing of pictures and other types of visual displays. This article describes the nature of pictorial balance that emerges from eye movement research and related empirical findings. A graphic representation of the interaction of stimulus-driven and cognitively-driven aspects of balance perception derived from this literature is presented and discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Much behavioral research involves comparing the central tendencies of different groups, or of the same Ss under different conditions, and the usual analysis is some form of mean comparison. This article suggests that an ordinal statistic, d, is often more appropriate. d compares the number of times a score from one group or condition is higher than one from the other, compared with the reverse. Compared to mean comparisons, d is more robust and equally or more powerful; it is invariant under transformation; and it often conforms more closely to the experimeter's research hypothesis. It is suggested that inferences from d be based on sample estimates of its variance rather than on the more traditional assumption of identical distributions. The statistic is extended to simple repeated measures designs, and ways of extending its use to more complex designs are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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Many researchers have claimed that the emotion of disgust functions to protect us from disease. Although there have been several discussions of this hypothesis, none have yet reviewed the evidence in its entirety. The authors derive 14 hypotheses from a disease-avoidance account and evaluate the evidence for each, drawing upon research on pathogen avoidance in animals and empirical research on disgust. In all but 1 case, the evidence favors a disease-avoidance account. It is suggested that disgust is evoked by objects/people that possess particular types of prepared features that connote disease. Such simple disgust are directly disease related, are acquired during childhood, and are able to contaminate other objects/people. The complex disgust, which emerge later in development, may be mediated by several emotions. In these cases, violations of societal norms that may subserve a disease-avoidance function, notably relating to food and sex, act as reminders of simple disgust elicitors and thus generate disgust and motivate compliance. The authors find strong support for a disease-avoidance account and suggest that it offers a way to bridge the divide between concrete and ideational accounts of disgust.
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Approaches disgust as a food-related emotion and defines it as revulsion at the prospect of oral incorporation of offensive objects. These objects have contamination properties; if they contact an otherwise acceptable food, they tend to render it inedible. Issues considered include: the nature of the objects of disgust and why they are virtually all of animal origin, the meaning of oral incorporation, the belief that people take on the properties of the foods they eat, the nature of the contamination response and its relation to the laws of sympathetic magic (similarity and contagion), and the ontogeny of disgust, which is believed to develop during the 1st 8 yrs of life. The idea that feces, the universal disgust object, is also the 1st is explored, and the mechanisms for the acquisition of disgust are examined. Disgust is recommended as an easily studiable emotion, a model for cognitive–affective linkages, and a model for the acquisition of values and culture. (103 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)
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The effect of color on the expected and experienced refreshment, intensity, and liking of lemon, mint, and vanilla beverages was studied. Subjects rated the expected and actual taste of brown lemon and mint solutions as less refreshing than the tastes of differently colored solutions of the same flavor. However, the refreshment ratings (expected and actual) of the brown vanilla beverage were not different from those of the vanilla beverages of other colors. Liking ratings also depended on color in a manner similar to that of the refreshment ratings. Intensity ratings also varied with color. However, unlike when subjects smell solutions rather than taste them, colored solutions were not judged as more intense than colorless ones. In fact, the clear solutions were judged as strongest.
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The effect of color on orthonasal and retronasal odor intensities was investigated. When odorants were smelled orthonasally (i.e., through the nostrils), color enhanced odor intensity ratings, consistent with previous reports. However, when odorants were smelled retronasally (i.e., the odorous solution was put in the mouth), color reduced odor intensity ratings. These different effects of color on odor intensity (i.e., enhancement orthonasally and suppression retronasally) appear to be the result of route of olfactory stimulation rather than of any procedural artifact. This supports previous reports that retronasal and orthonasal odors are perceived differently.
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Despite the importance and pervasiveness of marketing, almost nothing is known about the neural mechanisms through which it affects decisions made by individuals. We propose that marketing actions, such as changes in the price of a product, can affect neural representations of experienced pleasantness. We tested this hypothesis by scanning human subjects using functional MRI while they tasted wines that, contrary to reality, they believed to be different and sold at different prices. Our results show that increasing the price of a wine increases subjective reports of flavor pleasantness as well as blood-oxygen-level-dependent activity in medial orbitofrontal cortex, an area that is widely thought to encode for experienced pleasantness during experiential tasks. The paper provides evidence for the ability of marketing actions to modulate neural correlates of experienced pleasantness and for the mechanisms through which the effect operates. • orbitofrontal cortex • modulation by marketing actions • neuroeconomics • taste
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Perceived quality appears to be associated consistently with high prestige stores, high prices, and physical attributes of products such as color. Consumer income and educational level also affect perceptions of quality. These consumer demographic characteristics interact with each other and with the marketing mix in a complex manner.
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The effect of color on sweetness perception, flavor intensity, acceptability and thirst quenching was evaluated. The various studies included the development and administration of a questionnaire, preliminary sensory panel studies, three sensory panels of 20 subjects each and finally 3 consumer type taste panels of from 59–121 subjects each. The questionnaire indicated that consumers thought the sweetest beverages and those colored brown, red and orange would satisfy thirst the most. The association of sweetness with thirst quenching ability was an unexpected result but one that was validated in several of the panel studies which followed. The preliminary study done with a full factorial design showed that the samples with the lowest levels of acid and sugar as well as a combination of those with the lowest color and lowest sugar provided the greatest perception of thirst quenching. A series of small sensory panel studies of 20 subjects each allowed the further definition of the most appropriate color space. Samples were then reformulated to achieve this spacing and 3 larger consumer type panels were conducted. Sweetness and perceived ability to quench thirst were found to be significantly affected by color in two of the three panels while flavor intensity and acceptability were found to be significantly affected in only one panel. These results indicate that color is related to quality characteristics other than appearance and should be considered in decisions affecting such characteristics.
Article
This research demonstrates a less-is-better e€ect in three contexts: (1) a person giving a 45scarfasagiftwasperceivedtobemoregenerousthanonegivinga45 scarf as a gift was perceived to be more generous than one giving a 55 coat; (2) an over®lled ice cream serving with 7 oz of ice cream was valued more than an under®lled serving with 8 oz of ice cream; (3) a dinnerware set with 24 intact pieces was judged more favourably than one with 31 intact pieces (including the same 24) plus a few broken ones. This less-is-better e€ect occurred only when the options were evaluated separately, and reversed itself when the options were juxtaposed. These results are explained in terms of the evaluability hypothesis, which states that separate evaluations of objects are often in¯uenced by attributes which are easy to evaluate rather than by those which are important.
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ABSTRACTA study was conducted to assess relationships between food preference ratings and food acceptability ratings. Acceptability ratings for each of two discriminably different samples of nine food items were obtained using the 9-point hedonic scale. Regression analysis indicated that no linear relationship existed between these ratings and either hedonic or frequency preference ratings of the foods. In addition, the range of acceptability ratings was smaller than the range of corresponding’preference ratings. Panelists’expressed preferences had no effect on their assignment of differential acceptance ratings to different samples of the items. Correlations between preference ratings of laboratory panelists and military field panelists were good, in spite of higher absolute preference ratings assigned by the laboratory panel.
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The general semiotic properties of food take particularly intense forms in the context of gastro-politics – where food is the medium, and sometimes the message, of conflict. In South Asia, where beliefs about food encode a complex set of social and moral propositions, food serves two diametrically opposed semiotic functions: it can either homogenize the actors who transact in it, or it can serve to heterogenize them. In the Tamil Brahmin community of South India, this underlying tension takes three particular forms in the arenas of the household, the marriage feast, and the temple. [food, symbolism, semiotics, politics, South India]
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The relationship between product price and perceived product quality has been developed extensively in the literature. Less work has been done to investigate the possible effects of other variables in combination with price as perceived-quality influentials. This paper examines the effect on perceived product quality of price, brand name and store name. The results tend to confirm the hypothesis that consumer quality perception is dependent on a combination of controllable marketing attributes, but that not all classes of products are subject to the same type of interaction.
Article
The study investigated whether balance and complexity (increased by the addition of color) in the presentation of food on a plate affect the attractiveness of the presentation much as those factors affect the attractiveness of works of art. In addition, the willingness to try the food and liking for the food in four presentations (monochrome-balanced, colored-balanced, monochrome-unbalanced, and colored-unbalanced) combining these two variables was measured. While color increased the attractiveness of the balanced presentation it did not increase the attractiveness of the unbalanced one. Subjects were more willing to try the monochrome than colored presentations. There was no effect of color or balance on liking for the flavor of the food. So, while manipulating color and balance in a food presentation affects its attractiveness, it does not alter how much one likes the flavor of the food.
Article
We investigated the effect that the parameters of luminance distribution in fresh food have on our visual perception of its freshness. We took pictures of the degradation over 32 h in freshness of a cabbage. We used original images, which were patches of the pictures taken at different sampling hours, and artificially generated pictures, called "matched images," created by fitting the luminance histogram shape of the original image (taken at the 1st hour) to those at various freshness stages using a luminance histogram-matching algorithm. Nine participants rated the perceived freshness of the original and the matched images on a scale of degradation. As a result, we found that the participants could quantitatively estimate the degradation in freshness of the cabbage simply by looking at the presented images. Some parameters of the luminance histograms monotonically change with decreasing freshness, indicating that the freshness of cabbage can be estimated using these parameters. However, the freshness ratings for the matched images after the 8th hour of degradation had lower modification than those for the respective original images. These results suggest that the luminance distribution in the vegetable texture partly contributes to visual freshness perception but other variables, such as spatial patterns, might also be important for estimating visual freshness.
Article
The effects of color on odor identification were tested under color appropriate, inappropriate, and blindfolded conditions. Subjects made fewer errors in identifying solutions that were colored appropriately (e.g., red-cherry) than in either the blindfolded condition, where there were no color cues, or the inappropriate color condition (e.g., red-lemon). Identification accuracy was greatest for typical odor-color combinations (e.g., red-cherry) compared with appropriate but nontypical odor-color combinations (e.g., red-watermelon). Response latencies were fastest for odors in the appropriately colored solutions. Subjects also rated appropriate color-odor combinations as most pleasant. However, this effect is probably due to the increase in identification accuracy of the appropriately colored solutions. In all three conditions, correctly identified odors were liked more than odors that were not correctly identified. Thus, color is an important perceptual variable in odor identification because it biases subjects toward a color category that facilitates identification if the color is "correct". This ability to identify an odor in turn influences the affective response to the odor.
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Research from the anthropological, psychological, and animal behavior literatures suggests that foods of animal origin have a special status. In two studies we explored the question of whether individuals are more neophobic with respect to animal foods than non-animal foods. In the first study male and female subjects, after reading descriptions, rated their willingness to taste ten "novel" foods, which were actually fictitious. Foods in meat/fish/poultry and dairy/egg categories received lower ratings than those in fruit, vegetable, and grain categories. In the second study subjects were exposed to real foods, some of which were named and described accurately and were, therefore, familiar and some of which were named and described fictitiously and were, therefore, novel. There were no food category differences in subjects' willingness to taste familiar foods, but subjects were less willing to eat novel flesh foods than foods in the other categories. The results are discussed in terms of Rozin & Fallon's (1980) taxonomy of motivations for rejecting foods.
Article
The present study assesses the effects of food familiarity on food ratings of neophobics and neophilics by having them sample and evaluate familiar and novel foods. Level of neophobia was assessed using the Food Neophobia Scale (FNS). Participants rated their familiarity with each food, their willingness to try the foods and expected liking for the foods, as well as their actual liking for the foods after they were sampled. Willingness to try the foods again in the future, and the amount of food sampled were also assessed. Evaluations of the foods were more positive for familiar vs. unfamiliar foods across all study participants. The responses of neophobics and neophilics were similar for familiar foods, but differed when the foods were unfamiliar, with neophobics making more negative evaluations. Neophobics and neophilics differed least in their liking ratings of the stimuli that were made after the foods were actually sampled, and differed most in their ratings of willingness to try the foods. It is concluded that neophobics have different expectancies about unfamiliar foods, and that these expectancies influence food sampling and rating behaviors. The neophobic's negative attitude toward an unfamiliar food may be ameliorated, but is not eliminated, once sensory information about the food is obtained.
Article
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.
Article
It was hypothesised that consumers' expectations of liking for a food would be affected by its appearance both when raw and when cooked and that the impact of these expectations on actual liking for the product after eating would vary with consumer awareness of internal body states (private body consciousness). We found that consumers' expectations of liking for the food generated by the appearance of the cooked product was related to expectation of liking from viewing the raw product. Under some conditions, consumers liked a food less after consumption if a raw product that generated low expectation of liking had been presented beforehand. There was no evidence that private body consciousness modified the consumers' susceptibility to expectation effects. It was concluded that expectations of liking for a food generated by appearance both when raw and cooked influenced final evaluation of the product during consumption.
Expectations and the food industry: The impact of color and appearance
  • J B Hutchings
Hutchings, J. B. (2003). Expectations and the food industry: The impact of color and appearance. New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers.
Relationships between food preferences and food acceptance ratings Dominance statistics: Ordinal analyses to answer ordinal questions
  • A V Cardello
  • O Maller
Cardello, A. V., & Maller, O. (1982). Relationships between food preferences and food acceptance ratings. Journal of Food Science 47 1553–1557, 1561. Cliff, N. (1993). Dominance statistics: Ordinal analyses to answer ordinal questions. Psychological Bulletin, 114, 494–509.