Carlos Velasco

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (QJEP)

Multisensory Research 38(1-3) p. 27-59 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-bja10144

People infer the taste of products based on semantic knowledge (e.g., associations with the category and brand elements). They also link shape features with certain taste qualities through inherent associations commonly referred to as crossmodal correspondences. This research examined how shape features influence the evaluation of familiar and unfamiliar products, and thus varying levels of semantic knowledge. Participants evaluated the expected taste, familiarity, liking, and willingness to purchase products with curved and angular logos presented with sweet, bitter, and neutral characteristics, as well as unfamiliar products. The results of Experiment 1 indicated that the curved logos were preferred and associated with greater sweetness, while the angular logos were less preferred and associated with bitterness. However, in Experiment 2, these differences disappeared when the logos were presented with packages of familiar (sweet, bitter, and neutral) and unfamiliar products. In Experiment 3, the expected tastes for the logos were more pronounced when they were framed as representing new or unfamiliar products than sweet and bitter familiar products. The difference in expected sweetness between curved and angular logos was greater for new or unfamiliar products than for familiar sweet products, and the same pattern was found for expected bitterness. Together, these results suggest that feature-based expectations of taste are absent or less pronounced when semantic knowledge about the products is greater.

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science

Oxford University Press

Food Quality and Preference 133 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105600

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technologies, including ChatGPT, offer innovative capabilities in sensory and consumer science. Recent empirical studies in sensory and consumer science highlight the potential utility of GenAI in, for example, AI-generated food images and recipes. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first paper to propose a comprehensive framework for integrating GenAI into research and development in sensory and consumer science. The framework highlights how GenAI can be applied across the concept, design, and testing phases through an iterative process. The concept phase utilises GenAI to generate research concepts (e.g., proposing ideas such as research questions and hypotheses). The design phase employs GenAI to formulate research designs. During this stage, GenAI assists with creating and validating survey/experimental stimuli and measurement scales. The testing phase applies GenAI to evaluate research ideas and designs by employing “silicon samples,” interactive surveys that enhance engagement and response quality. In the testing phase, GenAI can also analyse unstructured text data, offering more accurate and scalable text analysis than traditional methods, even across diverse languages and cultures. This study also acknowledges potential pitfalls, such as biases in AI outputs, data privacy and security concerns, oversimplification, lack of transparency, and GenAI user misperception. This article encourages greater integration of GenAI by highlighting its potential for the sensory and consumer science community, while addressing its limitations and ensuring adherence to high ethical standards.

Perception 54(9) p. 689-714 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/03010066251342011

This research investigates crossmodal correspondences between auditory stimuli, specifically musical modes, and olfactory mental imagery, represented by fragrance families. Building on the emerging literature on crossmodal correspondences, this research explores different mechanisms that might help to explain these crossmodal correspondences such as their shared connotative meaning and identity-based meaning. The first study evaluated the fragrance families and subfamilies and musical modes and assessed potential mechanisms behind these associations. The second study examined the associations between the musical modes and fragrance families and subfamilies through a matching task. The results revealed consistent matches between different musical modes and corresponding fragrance families and subfamilies, indicating a crossmodal association between auditory and olfactory mental imagery. What is more, major modes were perceived as brighter and less intense, and were more liked than minor modes, with floral and fresh fragrances similarly rated as brighter and more liked than oriental and woody fragrances. These results suggest that crossmodal correspondences between auditory and olfactory stimuli are influenced by brightness, intensity, and hedonic factors. Understanding such crossmodal associations can potentially benefit various fields, including marketing, product design, and those interested in creating multisensory experiences.

Communications of the ACM 68(4) p. 50-59 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3699594

IMAGINE TRYING TO create the sensory impression of an object, say, the vibrant beauty of a sunflower. It is not just about visualizing its colors but also about feeling the textures and perceiving the delicate fragrances, all encapsulated within an event. This could be re-created as part of an art exhibition (for example, the Tate Sensorium; see Vi et al.42) to immerse the audience in a multisensory journey, such as walking through a sunflower field. The senses take center stage in forming the essence of the experience, even in the absence of real sunflowers.

Food Quality and Preference 136 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105767

In recent years, the development of cultured meat has accelerated as a promising solution for sustainable food systems. However, consumer acceptance of cultured meat remains low. Advancements in technologies such as 3D bioprinting have enabled intricate visual designs of cultured meat that were not possible with traditional meat and may potentially enhance its appeal. In this study, we aimed to investigate how the visual design of cultured meat affects consumer preferences. Across three studies, we examined the impact of visually designed (vs. non-patterned) cultured meat on consumer evaluations, including intentions to eat and perceptions of visual appeal. Results consistently showed that cultured meat featuring patterned designs was less preferred than non-patterned alternatives. The consumer reluctance was explained in part by perceptions of disgust and artificiality. Furthermore, non-patterned cultured meat with redder and more saturated colouring received more favourable ratings across all measures than both fewer red variants and those with patterned designs. These findings suggest that while redder and more saturated colours can enhance the visual appeal of cultured meat, patterned designs may amplify negative biases. This highlights the complex relationship between visual appearance and consumer acceptance. Therefore, understanding these dynamics is critical for producers aiming to improve the market viability of cultured meat products.

Psychology & Marketing 42(10) p. 2673-2684 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.70004

In advertising, visual metaphors often combine a target object (e.g., Red Bull) and a source object (e.g., wings) to convey meaning (e.g., “Red Bull gives you wings”). However, the context in which these objects are placed is generally not considered. Our research shows that presenting the metaphor in either the target context (e.g., on the ground) or the source context (e.g., in the air) leads to different consumer responses. In two studies, we found that purchase intention and product choice are stronger when the source context is depicted rather than the target context. Additionally, representing the source object in the target context enhances purchase intention by improving comprehension. This impact of context and object on purchase intention is linked to the complexity of the metaphors. Metaphors that represent the target, whether through the object or the context, are less complex than those depicting only the source. These complexity differences influence how product attributes are emphasised in visual metaphors. Consumers more easily connect with utilitarian aspects through complex metaphors, while simpler metaphors effectively evoke hedonic associations. Theoretical and managerial implications of these findings are discussed

Food Quality and Preference 126 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105387

Throughout six online experiments (four pre-registered), in which participants were tasked to evaluate their temperature expectations of different beverages with or without emotional cues (i.e., emoji facial expressions) with specific temperature associations, we found that imbuing a product with emotional content can influence its expected temperature in online settings. A negative valence, low arousal (i.e., sad) expression on the receptacle of a hot beverage (e.g., hot chocolate milk, coffee) led to a lower expected temperature compared to a beverage with a positive valence, high arousal (i.e., happy) expression and a control condition without any expression. Notably, a happy expression did not result in any significant difference in expected temperature. In addition, there were no significant differences with cold beverages (i.e., iced chocolate milk, beer). We found that the influence of the sad emoji expression was enhanced with higher levels of anthropomorphism (i.e., making individuals focus on the emotions of the product). Our results suggest that the mechanism behind these effects is based on the product being imbued with the emotional connotation of the sad expression and, subsequently, its corresponding temperature association. Our research adds to the literature on consumer behaviour, food and anthropomorphism, and the relationship between temperature and emotions, and it has applications related to food expectations.

Springer Nature Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-91050-0

i-Perception 15(4) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/20416695241259714

Auditory branding is undoubtedly becoming more important across a range of sectors. One area, in particular, that has recently seen significant growth concerns the introduction of music and soundscapes that have been specifically designed to match a particular scent (what one might think of as “audio scents” or “sonic scents”). This represents an exciting new approach to the sensory marketing of fragrance and for industries with strategic sensory goals, such as cosmetics. Crucially, techniques such as the semantic differential technique, as well as the emerging literature on crossmodal correspondences, offer both a mechanistic understanding of, and a practical framework for, those wishing to rigorously align the connotative meaning and conceptual/emotional/sensory associations of sound and scent. These developments have enabled those working in the creative industries to start moving beyond previously popular approaches to matching, or translating between the senses, that were traditionally often based on the idiosyncratic phenomenon of synaesthesia, toward a more scientific approach while nevertheless still enabling/requiring a healthy dose of artistic inspiration. In this narrative historical review, we highlight the various approaches to the systematic matching of sound with scent and review the various marketing activations that have appeared in this space recently.

Psychology & Marketing 41(10) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.22069

This article examines paradoxes, challenges, and opportunities in the context of ethical customer experience management. Central to this discussion are different stakeholders such as firms, customers, policymakers, regulators, and society at large, as well as key issues associated with them. Firms aim to design and manage compelling experiences using customer data but face challenges balancing cost, customization, ethical concerns, and fairness in customer experience management. Customers should be encouraged to reflect on whether to share personal information for customized experiences, as well as on how far their responsibility goes in ensuring critically informed decision-making. Policymakers and regulators must integrate the views of various stakeholders into policies and guidelines that promote a healthy society. Importantly, the digitization of customer experience has given rise to unprecedented ethical concerns related to the prospect of ‘programming’ these experiences. The shrinking temporal and spatial distance between stimuli, customer action, data footprint, and tracking poses significant reflections and dilemmas for both customers and firms. In this context, it is essential to determine ethical reflections and guidelines for customer experience design and management. We argue that firms should involve customers in assessing the implications of their experiences, while policymakers should facilitate the involvement of all stakeholders (including firms, customers, regulators, academics, and NGOs) to create an ongoing, healthy dialogue. This dialogue should guide a continuing debate aimed at evaluating the implications of specific actions in customer experience management.

Cognition 253 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2024.105936

Crossmodal correspondences, the tendency for a sensory feature / attribute in one sensory modality (either physically present or merely imagined), to be associated with a sensory feature in another sensory modality, have been studied extensively, revealing consistent patterns, such as sweet tastes being associated with pink colours and round shapes across languages. The present research explores whether such correspondences are captured by ChatGPT, a large language model developed by OpenAI. Across twelve studies, this research investigates colour/shapes-taste crossmodal correspondences in ChatGPT-3.5 and -4o, focusing on associations between shapes/colours and the five basic tastes across three languages (English, Japanese, and Spanish). Studies 1A-F examined taste-shape associations, using prompts in three languages to assess ChatGPT's association of round and angular shapes with the five basic tastes. The results indicated significant, consistent, associations between shape and taste, with, for example, round shapes strongly associated with sweet/umami tastes and angular shapes with bitter/salty/sour tastes. The magnitude of shape-taste matching appears to be greater in ChatGPT-4o than in ChatGPT-3.5, and ChatGPT prompted in English and Spanish than ChatGPT prompted in Japanese. Studies 2A-F focused on colour-taste correspondences, using ChatGPT to assess associations between eleven colours and the five basic tastes. The results indicated that ChatGPT-4o, but not ChatGPT-3.5, generally replicates the patterns of colour-taste correspondences that have previously been observed in human participants. Specifically, ChatGPT-4o associates sweet tastes with pink, sour with yellow, salty with white/blue, bitter with black, and umami with red across languages. However, the magnitude/similarity of shape/colour-taste matching observed in ChatGPT-4o appears to be more pronounced (i.e., having little variance, large mean difference), which does not adequately reflect the subtle nuances typically seen in human shape/colour-taste correspondences. These findings suggest that ChatGPT captures colour/shapes-taste correspondences, with language- and GPT version-specific variations, albeit with some differences when compared to previous studies involving human participants. These findings contribute valuable knowledge to the field of crossmodal correspondences, explore the possibility of generative AI that resembles human perceptual systems and cognition across languages, and provide insight into the development and evolution of generative AI systems that capture human crossmodal correspondences.

Language and Cognition 16(4) p. 1588-1617 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/langcog.2024.19

Distributional semantic representations were used to investigate crossmodal correspondences within language, offering a comprehensive analysis of how sensory experiences interconnect in linguistic constructs. By computing semantic proximity between words from different sensory modalities, a crossmodal semantic network was constructed, providing a general view of crossmodal correspondences in the English language. Community detection techniques were applied to unveil domains of experience where crossmodal correspondences were likely to manifest, while also considering the role of affective dimensions in shaping these domains. The study revealed the existence of an architecture of structured domains of experience in language, whereby crossmodal correspondences are deeply embedded. The present research highlights the roles of emotion and statistical associations in the organization of sensory concepts across modalities in language. The domains identified, including food, the body, the physical world and emotions/values, underscored the intricate interplay between the senses, emotion and semantic patterns. These findings align with the embodied lexicon hypothesis and the semantic coding hypothesis, emphasizing the capacity of language to capture and reflect crossmodal correspondences’ emotional and perceptual subtleties in the form of networks, while also revealing opportunities for further perceptual research on crossmodal correspondences and multisensory integration.

Journal of Wine Research 35(2) p. 85-100 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/09571264.2024.2310304

In the context of the experience economy, multisensory experiences have certainly received growing attention and interest from both researchers and practitioners to guide the design and management of experiences. Importantly, multisensory experiences are increasingly influenced and transformed by a number of technologies such as those in extended reality (e.g. AR, VR), IoTs, Web 3.0, and multisensory technologies. Here, we present a brief review of how multisensory experiences and these new technologies are shaping the way in which we understand, conceive, and design wine experiences. Whilst many examples of multisensory experiences and wine can be found in research, most of the technology-related examples are observed in industry initiatives. As such, more academic research will be needed to clarify when and how specific technologies might be the right experiential tools in the context of wine experience design. Our article ends with some ethical reflections about the implications of both multisensory experiences and technology.

Foods 13(13) Doi: https://doi.org/10.3390/foods13132156

Intrinsic and extrinsic sensory elements influence our food experiences. However, most research on extrinsic multisensory aspects of food has centered on WEIRD (White, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) urban participants. This study breaks from this trend by investigating multisensory food experiences in the context of Northern Norway, a region characterized by distinct seasonal shifts, harsh arctic weather, unique atmospheric phenomena (e.g., the midnight sun and northern lights), limited food growth opportunities, and a rich Sámi cultural heritage. Our aim was to unravel the formation and development of multisensory food experiences within a culturally and environmentally specific framework. Our exploratory research used participant observation and interviews, involving four researchers from diverse backgrounds who closely examined multisensory food experiences within four Northern Norwegian food-related tourism businesses, all infused with Sámi cultural elements. Our findings suggest four major themes: (1) Experience elements, involving elements associated with plants, animals, and inanimate objects; (2) Bipolar concepts, which refer to opposing dimensions where experience elements varied, notably in the interplay between Sámi and Norwegian traditions; (3) Sensory stories, which highlight the narratives, enriching the eating experience with context, such as tales of dining under the captivating northern lights; and (4) Values, which indicate guiding principles shaping these experiences on a broader scale, emphasizing support for local traditions and culture. Our main contribution is the presentation of a new contextual framework of multisensory food experiences, which can be applicable to studying food experiences in other contexts.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (QJEP) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218241307929

The present research investigates the stability of taste-shape crossmodal correspondences (i.e., how people non-randomly associate tastes and visual shapes, such as sweetness matched to roundness) over time, exploring the temporal dimension of crossmodal interactions. While previous research has established the existence of various taste-shape crossmodal correspondences, this study addresses their consistency over time through a test-retest paradigm. Drawing parallels with the concept of synesthesia, in which stability is used as a criterion, the research focuses on taste-shape associations, a domain not previously explored for temporal stability. Participants rated the perceived curvature and symmetry that they associated with taste words (sweet, umami, sour, salty, and bitter) and their liking of tastes and shapes. The same participants performed this task three times over a 2-week period. The results consistently replicated previous findings, revealing that sweet tastes were perceived as significantly more curved and symmetrical than other tastes, and umami was rated as more curved and symmetrical than sour, salty, and bitter tastes. Notably, the study found moderate-to-substantial test-retest reliability for the majority of the taste-shape correspondences, indicating robust stability over time. Analyses suggested that differences in assessments between test and retest sessions were primarily due to random error, with no systematic biases. However, a small subset of participants showed significant differences from other participants in their associations, particularly for umami-related correspondences. This research contributes to our understanding of taste-shape correspondences by demonstrating their temporal stability, offering insights into the dynamics of taste, curvature, symmetry, and liking. We posit that consistency might be used as a criterion supporting the existence of a given crossmodal correspondence. The findings have implications for product design and marketing, emphasising the importance of considering temporal aspects when capitalising on crossmodal correspondences in creating product expectations and experiences.

Academia : Revista Latinoamericana de Administración Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/ARLA-01-2024-0008

This research examined the role of post-conflict marketing in supporting businesses within conflict-affected regions, aligning with the objectives of UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 to foster peaceful societies amid increasing global conflicts. Design/methodology/approach Drawing from the theories of social egalitarianism and consumer discrimination, the study explored the moderating influence of conflict stakeholder on consumer willingness to pay (WTP). Understanding such stakeholder roles underscores post-conflict marketing's potential for economic growth and stability. Two experiments assessed the WTP, WTP a premium price and expected attractiveness of strategic products and services developed by key stakeholders (ex-guerrilla, ex-paramilitaries, ex-militaries, victims and other citizens) in the Colombian post-conflict context among both local (Colombian) and foreign (Japanese) consumers. Findings Results revealed that products associated with victims consistently received higher ratings. A notable contrast emerged as Japanese consumers favoured products of victims over those of regular citizens while rating offerings from ex-paramilitary and retired military stakeholders similarly, unlike their Colombian counterparts. Research limitations/implications The study acknowledges limitations regarding participants' geographic location and experimental design, providing insights for future research and potential refinements. Practical implications The findings offer insights into the impact of consumer attitudes on post-conflict stakeholder entrepreneurship in foreign and local markets, thus contributing relevant knowledge to support market success. Originality/value This is the first study assessing the role of various post-conflict stakeholders in influencing consumer evaluations of products and services. Consequently, these findings contribute to the foundational understanding of post-conflict marketing and offer a benchmark for business development in conflict-affected areas.

Food Quality and Preference 115 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105117

Alternative proteins have recently received significant attention from both academia and industry. Given the reported lower willingness of consumers to accept these alternative protein sources, it is crucial to gain insights into consumers' perceptions of them. Study 1, based on the theory of the meaning of objects and concepts, unveiled the connotative meaning (evaluation, potency, activity) associated with five alternative proteins (insects, cultured meat, mycoprotein, algae, and plant-based proteins). Animal-based sources, such as insects and cultured meat, received lower ratings in evaluation but scored higher in potency/activity. Conversely, plant-based sources, including mycoproteins, algae, and plant-based proteins, were rated higher in evaluation but lower in potency/activity. Building upon the congruency theory, Study 2 integrated these connotative meanings of alternative proteins into potential marketing strategies. More specifically, Study 2 introduced background music as an ambient factor and demo

Food Quality and Preference 115 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2024.105110

People generally associate curved and symmetrical shapes with sweetness, while associating angular and asymmetrical shapes with the other basic tastes (e.g., sour, bitter). However, these group-level taste-shape correspondences likely conceal important variation at an individual-level. We examined the extent to which individuals vary in their sensitivity to crossmodal correspondence between curvature and symmetry, on the one hand, and the five basic taste qualities (sweet, bitter, salty, sour, and umami), on the other. In Experiment 1, participants matched shapes (curved vs. angular, symmetrical vs. asymmetrical) and taste words. In Experiment 2, participants performed a similar task, though this time using actual tastants. Given that people differ in their hedonic experience of such shapes and tastes, we also measured participants’ liking for each taste and shape separately. The results replicate the general crossmodal correspondences between curved-sweet and symmetrical-sweet stimuli. Furthermore, participa

Food Quality and Preference 112 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.105009

A multitude of crossmodal correspondences have now been documented between taste (gustation) and visual features (such as hue). In the present study, new analytical methods are used to investigate taste-colour correspondences in a more fine-grained manner while also investigating potential underlying mechanisms. In Experiment 1, image processing analysis is used to evaluate whether searching online for visual images associated with specific taste words (e.g., bitter, sweet) generates outcomes with colour proportions similar to those that have been documented in the literature on taste–colour correspondences. Colour–taste matching tasks incorporating a much wider colour space than tested in previous studies, were assessed in Experiments 2 and 3. Experiments 3 and 4 assessed the extent to which the statistical regularities of the environment, as captured by food object categories, might help to explain the aforementioned correspondences and to what extent the correspondences are present in online content associated with specific tastes, respectively. Experiment 5 evaluated the role of statistical regularities in underpinning colour-taste correspondences related to the stage of ripening of fruit. Overall, the findings revealed consistent associations between specific colours and tastes, in a more nuanced manner than demonstrated in previous studies, while at the same time also showing that both food object categories and the stage of fruit ripening significantly influenced colour and taste perceptions. This, in turn, suggests that people might base these correspondences on both the foods present in their environments, as well as the natural changes that they undergo as they ripen. The results are discussed in light of the different accounts that have been suggested to explain colour-taste correspondences.

Journal of Business Research 165 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2023.114056

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are unique digital assets that exist in a given blockchain. NFT projects, containing unique collections of these assets, are blockchain-based companies that deliver value to customers. Why do people buy NFTs paying up to millions of dollars? Given the lack of studies on what makes NFTs valuable to consumers, we conceptualized the NFT journey through an analysis of the customer journey and the current NFT space dynamics, assessing key stage-based value drivers. We developed the temporal dimension of value perception in the digital asset journey, conceptualizing it as three distinct interaction stages with NFT collections: liking, buying, and holding or selling. Then, throughout three studies involving NFT users, we assessed the drivers associated with these stages. Using consumer-based value theory, we identified and categorized distinct drivers of value and examined the dynamics of these drivers across all stages. This exploratory study lays a foundation for future digital asset value research. Keywords:

Multisensory Research 6 p. 1-23 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-bja10114

The past two decades have seen an explosion of research on cross-modal correspondences. Broadly speaking, this term has been used to encompass associations between and among features, dimensions, or attributes across the senses. There has been an increasing interest in this topic amongst researchers from multiple fields (psychology, neuroscience, music, art, environmental design, etc.) and, importantly, an increasing breadth of the topic’s scope. Here, this narrative review aims to reflect on what cross-modal correspondences are, where they come from, and what underlies them. We suggest that cross-modal correspondences are usefully conceived as relative associations between different actual or imagined sensory stimuli, many of these correspondences being shared by most people. A taxonomy of correspondences with four major kinds of associations (physiological, semantic, statistical, and affective) characterizes cross-modal correspondences. Sensory dimensions (quantity/quality) and sensory features (lower perceptual/higher cognitive) correspond in cross-modal correspondences. Cross-modal correspondences may be understood (or measured) from two complementary perspectives: the phenomenal view (perceptual experiences of subjective matching) and the behavioural response view (observable patterns of behavioural response to multiple sensory stimuli). Importantly, we reflect on remaining questions and standing issues that need to be addressed in order to develop an explanatory framework for cross-modal correspondences. Future research needs (a) to understand better when (and why) phenomenal and behavioural measures are coincidental and when they are not, and, ideally, (b) to determine whether different kinds of cross-modal correspondence (quantity/quality, lower perceptual/higher cognitive) rely on the same or different mechanisms.

Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance 49(6) p. 923-947 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/xhp0001131

In the last decades, there has been a growing interest in crossmodal correspondences, including those involving temperature. However, only a few studies have explicitly examined the underlying mechanisms behind temperature-related correspondences. Here, we investigated the relative roles of an underlying affective mechanism and a semantic path (i.e., regarding the semantic knowledge related to a single common source identity or meaning) in crossmodal associations between visual textures and temperature concepts using an associative learning paradigm. Two online experiments using visual textures previously shown to be associated with low and high thermal effusivity (Experiment 1) and visual textures with no consensual associations with thermal effusivity (Experiment 2) were conducted. Participants completed a speeded categorization task before and after an associative learning task, in which they learned mappings between the visual textures and specific affective or semantic stimuli related to low and high temperatures. Across the two experiments, both the affective and semantic mappings influenced the categorization of visual textures with the hypothesized temperatures, but there was no influence on the reaction times. The effect of learning semantic mappings was larger than that of affective ones in both experiments, suggesting that a semantic path has more weight than an affective mechanism in the formation of the associations studied here. The associations studied here could be modified through associative learning establishing correlations between visual textures and either affective or semantic stimuli. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

Interactions 30(6) p. 24-29 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3624670

Food Quality and Preference 109 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.104873

Research on multisensory food perception suggests that most of our senses can influence eating experiences (Spence, 2020). The present research evaluates how different senses are engaged across country-specific eating experiences. Our goal is to explore each country's prototypical multisensory eating experience throughout the seasons. In Study 1A and 1B, we used the Sensory Perception Item (SPI) scale by Haase and Wiedmann (2018) in Norway (n = 104, M age = 40.73) and Colombia (n = 130, M age = 37.81), to assess how visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory, and gustatory dimensions are engaged in each country’s specific eating experiences and across seasons (Norway: Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring; Colombia: Humid, Dry, Cold, Hot). All of the sensory dimensions in Norway, except touch, were significantly influenced by seasons. In Colombia, seasons and climates were only significant for touch and olfaction. In Study 2A and 2B, we evaluated specific sensory components of the eating experiences in Norway (n = 83, M age = 39.1) and Colombia (n = 64, M age = 40.64). Seasons significantly affected several sensory dimensions of the eating experiences in Norway but not in Colombia. Furthermore, we obtained keywords that reflected participants eating experiences across the four seasons. This study provides insights on how the statistical regularities of food experience environments might change throughout certain seasons, climates, and geographical contexts. Restaurant managers can think of changing the ambience settings of the dining rooms to match the image people associate with each season, transferring the external environment into the internal dining atmosphere as one of the innovative ways to enhance eating experiences.

Food Quality and Preference 111 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.104992

People reliably associate visual aesthetic features such as curvature and symmetry with tastes. In the present study, considering the transitive hypothesis of crossmodal correspondences, we evaluated whether these findings would extend to the relationship between sound aesthetic features and tastes, and whether feature-based congruency or affective priming would explain the influence of melodies on taste imagery. In Experiment 1, we evaluated how people associate different melody profiles (balanced vs. unbalanced, smooth vs. jagged, symmetrical vs. asymmetrical, simpler vs. more complex) with different tastes (sweet, sour, bitter, salty), as well as the melodies' associated fluency, valence, and arousal. Smooth and complex melodies were perceived as sweeter, jagged and unbalanced melodies as sourer, asymmetrical and jagged melodies as more bitter, and jagged and balanced melodies as saltier. In Experiment 2, we selected the most strongly associated aesthetic sound dimension with tastes, namely contour, and evaluated whether crossmodal congruency, based on crossmodal correspondences, or affective priming would influence people’s sensory and hedonic imagery associated with sweet and sour foods. In the imagery tasks, the participants showed higher sour ratings in the sourness task and higher sweetness ratings in the sweetness task. In the sweet imagery task, smooth melodies led to sweeter and less sour food imagery, whereas jagged melodies in the sourness task led to more sour and less sweet food imagery. These results favour the crossmodal congruency explanation rather than the affective alternative, which we ponder in the general discussion.

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2023.100739

Food Quality and Preference 111 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.104996

Food Quality and Preference 100 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104619

Thoughts and associations are spontaneously generated and situated. A growing body of research on crossmodal correspondences has revealed that individuals tend to associate information across sensory modalities. However, most of the findings have been based on restricted sensory pairs/items and the role of context remains largely unexplored. Relying on crossmodal correspondence studies and the theory of situated conceptualization, the present study aimed to study spontaneous crossmodal correspondences and the role of context (background settings, culture) in modulating them. Japanese and British participants (n = 604) were presented with shape stimuli (round and angular) and spontaneously generated words describing the stimuli in different contexts (geometric shapes, logo in food packaging, and logo in non-food products). The results demonstrated that individuals spontaneously associate shape features with different senses, something that is influenced by context (background settings, culture). Geometric shapes were associated with visual and auditory descriptors, while shapes in the food context were linked with chemosensory (olfactory and taste) descriptors. Moreover, Japanese participants were more likely to generate touch descriptors, while British participants were more likely to use auditory descriptors. Together, our findings reveal how multisensory associations are spontaneously generated and how these associations are grounded in contexts.

Food Quality and Preference 100 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104602

Numerous crossmodal correspondences between visual elements and basic tastes have been documented in recent years. Research has shown that many of these correspondences can influence taste expectations when applied in food packaging. However, research on correspondences between visual textures and tastes is scarce, despite the ability of the former to convey specific information about materials and objects. In the present study, we conducted two online experiments designed to study crossmodal correspondences between basic taste words and visual textures with common material properties. In Experiment 1 (N = 194), we evaluated explicit associations between six visual texture categories (with four levels of each category) and basic taste words. The results revealed moderate associations between one of the fluffy visual textures and sweetness and between a rough and a crunchy visual texture and saltiness. In Experiment 2 (N = 407), we superimposed the visual textures associated with the basic tastes found in Experiment 1 on food extrinsic factors (i.e., packaging, napkin) served in combination with products of three taste qualities (i.e., neutral/ambiguous, sweet, salty). We did not find evidence supporting the idea that visual textures that are crossmodally corresponding to specific tastes, as revealed in Experiment 1, influenced taste expectations. The results of the study suggest that the strength of the crossmodal correspondence between visual textures and basic taste words studied here is moderate.

Food Quality and Preference 103 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104701

We evaluated how beer colour and glass type interact when it comes to forming beer expectations. Following previous research, we predicted that, given that colour is a dominant feature in food and beverage expectations, it would modulate the effects of glass type on beer expectations. One hundred and ninety-five participants from the United Kingdom took part in the experiment, which followed a 6 × 7 within-participants experimental design, with factors glass type (Pilsner, Pint, Tulip, Chalice, Weissbier, and Mug) and colour (yellow, blue, brown, orange, black, red, and green). Our results revealed that whilst colour influenced the expectations-based sensory-discriminative, hedonic, and willingness to pay (WTP) ratings, glass type influenced all variables but intensity and WTP. Importantly, all the variables for which glass type had a main effect were followed by a significant interaction. The results indicate that, the extent to which an extrinsic beer element, namely glass, influences expectations, depends on the associations that people have with colour, an intrinsic beer property closely related to beer type. We discuss the implications of our results for the design of beer expectations.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (QJEP) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/17470218221096452

Visual textures are critical in how individuals form sensory expectations about objects, which include somatosensory properties such as temperature. This study aimed to uncover crossmodal associations between visual textures and temperature concepts. In Experiment 1 (N = 193), we evaluated crossmodal associations between 43 visual texture categories and different temperature concepts (via temperature words such as cold and hot) using an explicit forced-choice test. The results revealed associations between striped, cracked, matted, and waffled visual textures and high temperatures and between crystalline and flecked visual textures and low temperatures. In Experiment 2 (N = 247), we conducted six implicit association tests (IATs) pairing the two visual textures most strongly associated with low (crystalline and flecked) and high (striped and cracked) temperatures with the words cold and hot as per the results of Experiment 1. When pairing the crystalline and striped visual textures, the results revealed that crystalline was matched to the word cold, and striped was matched to the word hot. However, some associations found in the explicit test were not found in the IATs. In Experiment 3 (N = 124), we investigated how mappings between visual textures and concrete entities may influence crossmodal associations with temperature and these visual textures. Altogether, we found a range of association strengths and automaticity levels. Importantly, we found evidence of relative effects. Furthermore, some of these crossmodal associations are partly influenced by indirect mappings to concrete entities.

Frontiers in Psychology 13 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.851753

The reality-virtuality continuum encompasses a multitude of objects, events and environments ranging from real-world multisensory inputs to interactive multisensory virtual simulators, in which sensory integration can involve very different combinations of both physical and digital inputs. These different ways of stimulating the senses can affect the consumer’s consciousness, potentially altering their judgements and behaviours. In this perspective paper, we explore how technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) can, by generating and modifying the human sensorium, act on consumer consciousness. We discuss the potential impact of this altered consciousness for consumer behaviour while, at the same time, considering how it may pave the way for further research.

Food Quality and Preference 104 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2022.104742

This paper questions whether manufacturers can utilize visual packaging cues, in particular colours and shapes, to communicate the intrinsic attributes of cheeses. While the existence of crossmodal correspondences between packaging shapes and tastes have been demonstrated in previous food studies, we still need knowledge about how the interaction of colour and shape of the packaging that the cheese is sold influence customers’ expectations of taste and liking. Throughout two studies, we illustrate that specific shapes and colours communicate certain cheese tastes. In study 1, we found that, while a mild tasting cheese is associated with round shapes, high colour brightness and low colour saturation, a sharp tasting cheese is associated with an angular shape, lower level of colour brightness and higher level of colour saturation. This knowledge can be utilized to communicate taste via the design of the packaging. In study 2, we moved on to test this via packaging. We found that a round shaped packaging combined with high colour brightness and low colour saturation communicates a mild taste, whereas a triangular shape packaging combined with a low colour brightness/ high saturation signals a sharper tasting cheese. Moreover, a round packaging elicits the highest degree of liking. Our findings demonstrate that multiple sensory elements of a product’s packaging can enhance respondents’ taste expectations and expected liking of a product. In conclusion, this paper offers guidance to managers seeking to design packaging that communicates the flavour of food products, specifically for cheeses.

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 31 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2022.100629

There is an increasing interest in food within the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field with emerging interactive prototypes that augment, extend, and challenge the various ways in which people engage with food. The emerging subfield is defined as “Human-Food Interaction” (HFI). Given the rapid advancement of interactive technology that converges with a wide range of food settings, this article seeks a continuous scrutiny towards the field to ensure it advances in fruitful directions. In this article, we identify nine emerging themes building on the submissions presented by 19 researchers at an HFI workshop recently held at an international conference. Furthermore, we brought to light three potential design and research directions to inspire HFI futures, and, simultaneously, to build a foundation upon which HFI, gastronomy and food science communities can work together.

Journal of Business Research 156 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2022.113509

We test how and why food taste and brand personality interactively influence consumer evaluations. Although food branding is a substantial and large market, studies on food taste and brand personality have only been conducted separately. Across four studies (including one real-brand study), the present study aimed to reveal the association between brand personality and tastes and how congruency between these two may influence brand evaluations. Sincerity as a brand personality trait is reliably associated with sweet tastes, regardless of culture, measures of brand personality, and experimental designs. Process evidence suggests that the relationship between sincerity and sweet foods increases perceived congruence, which leads to positive brand attitudes. Moreover, brand sincerity is positively associated with sweet food sales. These findings reveal a novel link between food taste and brand personality and provide practical implications for food branding.

Morals + Machines Doi: https://doi.org/10.5771/2747-5174-2022-2

Psychology & Marketing 39(6) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21651

We investigate whether the typeface used to display the purchase amount in the context of mobile payment influences consumers' awareness of spending. The evidence suggests that prices displayed in angular (vs. round) typeface increase the awareness of spending in the context of mobile payment via the perceived harshness of the typeface and the experienced pain of payment (Studies 1–3, 5, and 6). Angular (vs. round) typeface also has downstream consequences for payment behavior, indicating that the amount displayed with the angular typeface increases the hesitation to press the “pay” button (Studies 2 and 6). Our results also demonstrate that the typeface effect on the awareness of spending is moderated by the purchase amount (Study 3). The robust typeface effect documented for Japanese participants (Studies 1–3) is not observed in North Americans (Studies 4 and 5), highlighting the role of culture. Finally, we replicate the price typeface effect (Studies 1–3) in a situation that is closer to the context of real mobile shopping and demonstrate that price typeface impact people's willingness to spend on the next grocery shop (Study 6). Our research contributes to the scarce literature on addressing the profligacy issues associated with mobile payments and broadly cashless payments.

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 31 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2022.100656

Packaging and label design are crucial in facilitating the perception of brand premiumness. However, we know relatively little about how common design characteristics used in a product’ packaging affect consumers' perception of premiumness. Related research suggests that consumers may associate some features, such as symmetry, with premiumness, given their quality connotations. In this article, we report an online study (n = 741) designed to evaluate the influence of curvature (round vs. angular), symmetry (symmetrical vs. asymmetrical), and mark (black vs. no fill) on consumers' premiumness perceptions, across four different food product categories (chocolate, coffee, jam, and ice-cream), and two price conditions. Overall, we find a significant positive effect of symmetry, and a significant effect of mark on all except one product category. The effect of mark and curvature on consumers’ premiumness perception appeared to be affected more by context and product-category. Consistent with evolutionary theory, the results provide evidence for the hypothesis that symmetry is a key indicator of brand premiumness. This contributes to our understanding of the aesthetics of premium brands and suggests specific implications for practitioners.

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 24(100323) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2021.100323

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.

PLOS ONE 16(6) p. e0252408-e0252408 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0252408

Emotions and temperature are closely related through embodied processes, and people seem to associate temperature concepts with emotions. While this relationship is often evidenced by everyday language (e.g., cold and warm feelings), what remains missing to date is a systematic study that holistically analyzes how and why people associate specific temperatures with emotions. The present research aimed to investigate the associations between temperature concepts and emotion adjectives on both explicit and implicit levels. In Experiment 1, we evaluated explicit associations between twelve pairs of emotion adjectives derived from the circumplex model of affect, and five different temperature concepts ranging from 0°C to 40°C, based on responses from 403 native speakers of four different languages (English, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese). The results of Experiment 1 revealed that, across languages, the temperatures were associated with different regions of the circumplex model. The 0°C and 10°C were associated with negative-valanced, low-arousal emotions, while 20°C was associated with positive-valanced, low-to-medium-arousal emotions. Moreover, 30°C was associated with positive-valanced, high-arousal emotions; and 40°C was associated with high-arousal and either positive- or negative-valanced emotions. In Experiment 2 (N = 102), we explored whether these temperature-emotion associations were also present at the implicit level, by conducting Implicit Association Tests (IATs) with temperature words (cold and hot) and opposing pairs of emotional adjectives for each dimension of valence (Unhappy/Dissatisfied vs. Happy/Satisfied) and arousal (Passive/Quiet vs. Active/Alert) on native English speakers. The results of Experiment 2 revealed that participants held implicit associations between the word hot and positive-valanced and high-arousal emotions. Additionally, the word cold was associated with negative-valanced and low-arousal emotions. These findings provide evidence for the existence of temperature-emotion associations at both explicit and implicit levels across languages.

Food Quality and Preference 96 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104436

There has been an ever-increasing interest in artificial intelligence (AI) in the hospitality sector. However, it is still unclear how consumers respond to products/services in hospitality industries provided by AI. Building on the theoretical framework for using AI in different services and the literature on luxury consumption, across four studies, we investigated how consumers evaluate different types of restaurants that are run by AI vs. humans. The results demonstrated that consumers evaluated food and restaurants more negatively where the service is provided by AI (Study 1). This effect was higher in luxury restaurants compared to casual dining (fast food, casual restaurants) (Studies 2 and 3). Moreover, we identified the underlying mechanism of this effect by showing that in luxury (vs. casual) restaurants, foods cooked by AI negatively influenced evaluations of three dimensions of restaurants’ quality, such as food, service, and ambience quality, decreasing the intention to visit the restaurant (Study 4). Altogether, these findings reveal some effects that AI can have in the hospitality industry and provide practical insights on how to introduce AI in restaurants.

Frontiers in Computer Science 3 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.811311

International Journal of Food Design 6(2) p. 137-152 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1386/IJFD_00028_2

Frontiers in Neuroscience 15 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2021.652611

Multisensory integration research has allowed us to better understand how humans integrate sensory information to produce a unitary experience of the external world. However, this field is often challenged by the limited ability to deliver and control sensory stimuli, especially when going beyond audio–visual events and outside laboratory settings. In this review, we examine the scope and challenges of new technology in the study of multisensory integration in a world that is increasingly characterized as a fusion of physical and digital/virtual events. We discuss multisensory integration research through the lens of novel multisensory technologies and, thus, bring research in human–computer interaction, experimental psychology, and neuroscience closer together. Today, for instance, displays have become volumetric so that visual content is no longer limited to 2D screens, new haptic devices enable tactile stimulation without physical contact, olfactory interfaces provide users with smells precisely synchronized with events in virtual environments, and novel gustatory interfaces enable taste perception through levitating stimuli. These technological advances offer new ways to control and deliver sensory stimulation for multisensory integration research beyond traditional laboratory settings and open up new experimentations in naturally occurring events in everyday life experiences. Our review then summarizes these multisensory technologies and discusses initial insights to introduce a bridge between the disciplines in order to advance the study of multisensory integration.

Journal of Retailing 98(2) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jretai.2021.04.003

This research examines how consumers’ intentions to purchase food change depending on the visualisation mode (3D vs. AR) and product format (served vs. packaged). In three studies, we demonstrate that mental simulation of eating experiences (process and outcome) mediate these effects. Study 1 shows that AR visualisation of a served food improves simulation of the eating process over 3D visualisation, with a positive effect on purchase intention. Study 2 reveals that 3D visualisation improves purchase intention for packaged products (high instrumental properties) over served products (low instrumental properties) while the opposite is true for AR visualisation. In addition, interactivity and immersion mediate the effects of 3D (vs. AR) on mental simulation of the eating process for packaged products. Study 3 extends these results by showing that 3D increases purchase intention by eliciting mental simulation of the eating outcome, when the food is visible due to transparent (vs. opaque) packaging (displaying both sensory and instrumental properties), but that no such differences emerge for AR. This research highlights the importance of using different visualisation modes to promote food depending on the product format. The findings have important implications for both offline and online retailers.

Food Quality and Preference 97 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104473

There is a growing interest in insects as a promising alternative source of protein that can potentially contribute to help solving the imminent global food crisis. However, research on insect-based foods (IBFs) has repeatedly pointed to the fact that, in many countries and cultures, negative attitudes towards eating insects are one of the most significant obstacles to promoting the consumption of IBFs. To date, only a small number of studies have investigated effective strategies to increase the acceptance of those foods. The research reported here focused on the role of celebrity endorsement, which is one of the most prevalent marketing strategies used to promote a wide range of products. We systematically explored whether and how such a strategy might affect the consumers’ willingness to eat (WTE) IBFs. Our results provide the first demonstration that celebrities’ perceived trustworthiness, knowledge about IBFs, and appropriateness (as an endorser of IBF products) are significant celebrity characteristics affecting people’s WTE IBFs. We also found that celebrity type (i.e., actor/actress, musician, or athlete) interacts with participant gender in terms of their WTE IBFs. Namely, for male participants, IBF ads featuring actors/actresses or athletes were effective for increasing their WTE those foods. Meanwhile, for female participants, only actors/actresses significantly increased their WTE IBFs. Endorsement by a musician did not increase the WTE IBFs for either male or female respondents. Together, these findings demonstrate the celebrity endorsement as a prominent strategy to increase the WTE IBFs and reveal how and when the strategy is effective for promoting IBFs.

Food Quality and Preference 96 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104368

Engineering healthy diets from sustainable food resources undoubtedly constitutes a major global challenge. One solution to the problem of developing healthy and sustainable diets involves the incorporation of various novel/unfamiliar foods into our diets (e.g., insect-based foods, cultured meats, plant-based meat alternatives, and 3D printed foods). However, the consumer acceptance of novel/unfamiliar foods still poses something of a challenge. Although a growing body of research has started to reveal that situational factors (e.g., social companions, eating venue) can influence food preferences, it remains unclear how exactly they influence the consumer’s acceptance of novel/unfamiliar foods (including unfamiliar ingredients, food produced by novel processes/technologies). Across three studies, we examined the influence of social companions (alone, friend, family, acquaintance, partner) and venue (home, cafe, bar, pub, food festival, restaurant), on the anticipated willingness to try a number of novel/unfamiliar foods (insect-based foods, cultured meats, plant-based meat alternatives, and 3D printed foods). Using the category name and descriptions of novel/unfamiliar foods, our results demonstrate that situational factors influence anticipated acceptance differently depending on the type of novel/unfamiliar foods. Eating with friends and at food festivals plays an important role in the anticipated acceptance of insect-based foods, cultured meats, and 3D printed foods in a similar way. Moreover, expected positive and negative emotions might help to explain why these situational factors increase the anticipated acceptance of these foods. In contrast, the environmental situations that increase the anticipated acceptance of plant-based meat alternatives are similar to those increasing the acceptance of typical (rather than novel) foods. Taken together, these findings reveal the role of situational factors in the anticipated eating of a variety of novel/unfamiliar foods, thus providing practical implications on how/where to introduce such foods or engineer appropriate situations to increase the acceptance of, and exposure to, such novel/unfamiliar foods.

Frontiers in Computer Science 3 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.716846

We introduce a model to think about impossible experiences in mixed and virtual reality, while emphasizing the role of said experiences in the context of food. This reality-impossibility model includes two continua, namely, the reality-fantasy character of objects and environments, and the extent to which they follow the laws of physics-other laws. We present a series of examples in each of the quadrants of the model and discuss both the research possibilities and implications of impossible experiences.

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 27 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2021.100397

During the first sequence of lockdowns implemented in many countries around the world in early 2020 as a result of the emerging COVID-19 pandemic, there was widespread concern amongst many health professionals regarding a predicted rise in alcohol consumption. However, studies have reported diverse findings, with some consumer groups exhibiting an increase and others a decrease in their alcohol purchase and consumption patterns. Although the long-lasting changes in alcohol consumption, if any, are still unknown, the current situation has effectively accelerated a number of pre-existing trends which will likely continue in the future. E-commerce is growing steadily, mainly because of the restrictions within the on-trade channel and concerns around catching COVID-19 amongst consumers, thus lifting traditional barriers to the adoption of digital channels. Premiumization has also grown significantly during the pandemic, especially in the spirits category, due, in part, to the fact that consumers have been increasingly trying to recreate bar and restaurant quality gastronomic experiences in the privacy of their own homes. The trend toward homemade experiences is multi-stakeholder as consumers, retailers, restaurateurs, bar owners, and brands all try to help facilitate at-home consumption experiences. Larger size purchases seem to reflect not only the stockpiling phenomena that occurred during the initial phases of the pandemic but also convenience for consumers (e.g., avoiding queues). Additionally, the growing home mixology movement has been observed to result in consumers buying larger amounts of alcohol in order to facilitate cocktail making experimentation at home. It is important to stress, though, that this review was specially focused on available data from the first three quarters of 2020, as an effort to identify and understand the initial impacts the COVID-19 was creating amongst alcohol consumers. It currently remains uncertain how these trends will evolve, and whether or not they will continue post COVID-19 (whenever that might be). Key similarities and differences across national markets are highlighted.

Frontiers in Psychology 12 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.679443

As we tend to consume more and more via e-commerce platforms, the digital version of a dietary product’s package can be one of the most important touchpoints that the consumer has with such product during the purchasing stage of the consumer’s journey. Hence, a dietary food/drink properly presented via its packaging in e-commerce is key, for example, to nudge consumers toward healthier purchase habits. In this study, we assessed the role of different configurations of visual cues commonly present in a product’s packaging (jar vs. bag, transparent vs. opaque, labeled vs. unlabeled) in the expectations associated with dietary cookies when presented in a digital environment. A between-participants study was conducted where eight different packages with different combinations of the three aforementioned features were digitally evaluated by the participants. The results suggest that the presence (vs. absence) of labeling triggered the highest ratings on most assessed dimensions (product quality, healthiness, lightness, sweetness, crumbliness, price, tastiness, greediness for product, product/packaging liking). Moreover, transparent (vs. opaque) packaging tends to yield higher expectations concerning this product’s quality (i.e., product liking, package liking, greediness), though it has an opposite effect on the expected healthiness for such cookies. Some particular interactions between these three visual cues were also observed and are discussed as part of the obtained results. In summary, our results point to how the visual appearance of packaging can be strategically used in order to potentially nudge consumers toward healthier cookie purchase habits.

Frontiers in Computer Science 3 p. 1-7 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.694691

We present a perspective article on the state of multisensory human–food interaction (MHFI) research and lay out some reflections for research and development in this area of inquiry, based on a revision of the different spaces that we have co-created with researchers in this space. We begin by conceptualizing and defining MHFI, before moving onto presenting some of its major themes, as well as possible ways in which such themes can guide future research in the area. This article provides key definitions and foundations for the area of MHFI, as well as a first point of contact for those interested in it.

Frontiers in Psychology Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.586983

With its origin-centric value proposition, the specialty coffee industry seeks to educate consumers about the value of the origin of coffee and how the relationship with farmers ensures quality and makes coffee a premium product. While the industry has widely used stories and visual cues to communicate this added value, research studying whether and how these efforts influence consumers' experiences is scarce. Through three experiments, we explored the effect of images that evoke the terroir of coffee on the perception of premiumness. Our results revealed that online images that resembled the broad origin of coffee (i.e., a farm) could influence premiumness expectations of coffee (Experiment 1). Similarly, a virtual reality environment that depicted this broad origin (vs. a control but not a city atmosphere) could enhance the perception of coffee premiumness for non-expert consumers (Experiment 2) and the enjoyment of the experience for coffee professionals (Experiment 3). Importantly, we found that congruence between the coffee and the virtual reality (VR) atmospheres mediated how much non-experts enjoyed the experience (Experiment 2). VR atmospheres also influenced expectations of sweetness and acidity for non-experts (Experiment 2). These findings serve as a steppingstone for further exploration of the effects of congruence between visual cues and product/brand attributes on premiumness expectations and perception, and more generally on consumer experience. From a practical standpoint, this study provides insights into key aspects for the development of immersive virtual product experiences.

Food Research International 145 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2021.110410

While virtual reality (VR) has become increasingly popular in food-related research, there has been a lack of clarity, precision, and guidelines regarding what exactly constitutes a virtual reality study, as well as the options available to the researcher for designing and implementing it. This review provides a practical guide for sensory and consumer scientists interested in exploring the emerging opportunities offered by VR. We take a deep dive into the components that make up a VR study, including hardware, software, and response measurement methods, all the while being grounded in immersion and presence theory. We then review how these building blocks are put together to create two major categories of research scenarios: product selection, which can be entirely created in VR, and food evaluation, which involve tasting products in real life. For each category, we review current literature with a focus on experimental design, then highlight future avenues and technical development opportunities within sensory and consumer research. Finally, we evaluate limitations and ethical issues in VR food research, and offer future perspectives which go above and beyond ensuring ecological validity in product testing.

Frontiers in Computer Science 3 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2021.614524

We present a primer on multisensory experiences, the different components of this concept, as well as a reflection of its implications for individuals and society. We define multisensory experiences, illustrate how to understand them, elaborate on the role of technology in such experiences, and present the three laws of multisensory experiences, which can guide discussion on their implications. Further, we introduce the case of multisensory experiences in the context of eating and human-food interaction to illustrate how its components operationalize. We expect that this article provides a first point of contact for those interested in multisensory experiences, as well as multisensory experiences in the context of human-food interaction.

Food Quality and Preference 96 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104380

Store atmospheres are inherently multisensory and constitute an important driver of consumer behaviour. The research suggests that background music (as one element of the multisensory atmosphere) can influence consumer preference and choice. However, the findings have been inconsistent as far as how background music influences people’s preferences for healthy vs. indulgent foods is concerned. By considering different music genres, food types, and tastes/flavours, we aimed to disentangle the mixed results that have been reported previously. Across two experiments (including one pre-registered replication), the participants rated their preferences for each of several options (healthy savoury, indulgent savoury, healthy sweet, indulgent sweet) while listening to one of four music genres (Jazz, Classical, Rock/Metal, and Hip-hop). The results of the two experiments consistently demonstrated that the effects of background music on food preferences were dependent on the interaction between music genre, food type (healthy vs. indulgent), and taste/flavour (sweet vs. savoury). Crucially, listening to Jazz and Classical music increased people’s preferences for healthy savoury foods (e.g., vegetable sandwich) as compared with Rock/Metal music. Listening to Rock/Metal, Hip-hop, and Jazz music increased people’s preferences for indulgent savoury foods (e.g., a beef sandwich) as compared with Classical music. Additionally, listening to Classical music increased people’s preferences for both healthier (e.g., low-fat milk) and indulgent (e.g., milk chocolate) sweet foods as compared with the other musical genres. The mediating role of emotions was also documented in these experiments. Specifically, positive valence mediated the relationship between music genre and sweet as well as healthier savoury foods, while the feeling of arousal mediated the relationship between music genre and indulgent savoury foods. These findings suggest that auditory atmospherics may influence consumers’ food preferences. Practical implications for store managers concerning when to select and use specific types of background music are made.

Journal of Business Research Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2021.06.041

Psychology & Marketing 38(9) p. 1475-1497 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21534

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 preregistered experiments in which we manipulated product quality, symmetry, and curvature of product packaging and measured preference and premiumness perception. We also 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.

Oxford University Press

Food Quality and Preference 80 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103801

Product names can be developed to effectively convey specific sensory attributes to the consumer. Most of the previous research on crossmodal correspondences has shown that people selectively associate words (e.g., ‘Maluma’, ‘Takete’) with taste attributes. To provide practical insights for naming new products in the food industry, it is important to obtain a more nuanced understanding concerning those properties of speech sounds (i.e., vowels, consonants) influencing people’s taste expectations. In this study, we investigated taste-speech sound correspondences by systematically manipulating the vowels and consonants comprising fictitious brand names. Based on the literature on crossmodal correspondences and sound symbolism, we investigated which vowels/consonants contribute more to the association between speech sounds and tastes (sweet/sour/salty/bitter). Across three experiments, we systematically varied vowels (front: [i][e], back: [a][u][o]), and affricate consonants (e.g., fricative: [f][s], stop: [p][t]) as well as voiced/voiceless consonants (e.g., voiced: [b][d], voiceless: [f][k]). Japanese participants were presented with brand names and had to evaluate the taste that they expected the product to have. The results revealed that: (1) front (back) vowels increased expected sweetness (bitterness), (2) fricative (stop) consonants increased expected sweetness (saltiness/bitterness), (3) voiceless (voiced) consonants increased expected sweetness/sourness (saltiness/bitterness). Moreover, consonants, which were pronounced first in the brand names, exerted a greater influence on expected taste than did the vowels. Taken together, these findings help advance theoretical foundations in sound-taste correspondences research as well as provide practical contributions to the food practitioners to develop predictive product names.

Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology (QJEP) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1177/1747021819887172

Research on aesthetic science has demonstrated that people generally prefer symmetrical over asymmetrical compositions. However, it remains unclear whether and how such compositions relate to the concepts of approach and avoidance motivation, especially in consumer contexts. In addition, it is not known how symmetry may influence such concepts in contexts where objects can differ in terms of their hedonic values (symmetry/product taste congruency). In the present research, we evaluated the relation between visual symmetry of the packaging of products with different hedonic value (sweet, non-sweet, non-food) and approach and avoidance words. In two experiments, we found evidence that people associate symmetrical designs with approach words more often than asymmetrical designs. Importantly, however, we did not find evidence that such an effect is influenced by the hedonic value of the products. Our results have value for scholars and practitioners interested in the effect of aesthetic features of brand elements (such as a product’s packaging) on consumer motivation.

Journal of Service Management Research (SMR) 4 p. 187-204

The increased disruption of business models through digital technologies creates opportunities and challenges for retail businesses and their network partners. Digital transformation – the process of digitalization of previously analogue operations, procedures, organizational tasks, and managerial processes in order to drive value for customers, employees and other stakeholders – is the order of the day. With that in mind, this article provides a purposeful overview of research in the field of digital transformation with a focus on retailing and customer- facing functions of digital technologies such as managing customer journeys, assessing the impact of sensory marketing and the use of service robots on the one hand, and their strategic implications for business models such as servitization on the other. This article concludes by highlighting immediate as well as long-term challenges in the field, with a focus on disruptive technologies, innovationsand trends that retail marketing-management will likely face in the near future.

Food Quality and Preference 86(December) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.104020

The present research investigates the general effect of auditory noise control in individual’s eating and drinking experiences. In particular, the study applied passive vs active commercial headphone noise control techniques to an urban drinking situation. Here, each participant drank twice the same coffee while exposed to a louder (~85 dBA) vs less loud (−20 dBs) version of the same background noise of a food court in busy hours. Note that by loud, louder, and less loud, we are referring to differences in the sound level of the noise. Results suggest that most consumers tend to be less sensitive to specific sensory and hedonic attributes of the coffee under louder noise (sweetness, bitterness, acidity, flavor/aroma intensity, flavor-liking, sound-liking, flavor-sound-matching), and less willing to pay and purchase the coffee, relative to less loud sounds. This was more evident concerning the perceived bitterness and aroma intensity of the coffee. The effects reported are mainly attributed to the differences in noise level during taste, and discussed based on theory on crossmodal correspondences, and attention (e.g., louder noise may diminish the ability to attend to specific elements of the experience). When thinking of public health, for example, these results suggest that differences in urban noise level may moderate behavior during food/drink situations (e.g., potentially modulating sugar intake).

Food Quality and Preference 88 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.104082

A significant body of research demonstrates the existence of taste-shape correspondences. People associate tastes and visual shapes non-randomly. For example, round shapes are associated with sweet taste, while angular shapes are associated with sour and bitter tastes. Previous studies have focused on one-to-one taste-shape associations, where either geometrical shapes or shapes on a product’s packaging have been presented in isolation and evaluated separately. However, in real-life product displays, products are typically surrounded by other products. We examined whether shape contexts can influence the taste expectations associated with target products across five experiments (n = 1087) using geometrical and shapes on the packaging varying in curvature. Participants saw a display set (target shape in the middle surrounded by shapes on both sides) and evaluated the target shape in different taste scales. The first two experiments (within-participants design) failed to reveal that shape contexts can influence the taste expectations of the target. However, the subsequent three experiments (between-participants design) consistently demonstrated that shape contexts influence taste expectations associated with the target. In the latter experiments, we manipulated only the surrounding shapes and fixed target shapes as neutral (intermediate between angular and round shapes). When the surrounding shapes were angular (vs. round), the target shapes were rated as sweeter/more umami and less sour/salty/bitter. Emotions (valence and arousal) mediated the relationship between shape contexts and taste expectations. We discuss the results in light of the theory on crossmodal correspondences and relative compatibility effects. The findings provide insights for food marketers when it comes to designing product package displays to convey taste information more effectively.

Food Quality and Preference 88 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.104088

One common definition of premiumness is as a higher quality and more expensive variant of a product than other members of the category or reference class. Premiumness can effectively be conveyed by means of different sensory cues (e.g., colours, sounds, weight). However, to date, research linking the sound of a product’s pack-aging with premiumness is sparse. In the present study, we demonstrate for the first time that consumers associate different levels of beer premiumness with the sounds of opening and pouring of bottles and cans. We report the results of two online experiments. Experiment 1 explored the effect of two sound properties associated with beer can and bottle opening and pouring (sound pressure and frequency) on the perception of premiumness. Experiment 2 used semantic differential scales (e.g., bad-good, passive-active) to evaluate the meanings people tend to associate with different auditory cues. The analyses revealed that participants perceived: 1) bottle sounds to be more premium overall than can sounds, 2) pouring sounds as more premium than opening sounds, and 3) higher pressure sounds as more premium than lower pressure sounds. Additionally, premiumness was positively correlated with semantic differentials of dead-alive, and the evaluative terms of sad-happy, awful-nice, and bad- good, which highlights the perceived quality and premium character of a beer when conveyed auditorily.

Food Quality and Preference 85(October) Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2020.103982

Insect-based foods have gained much attention as an alternative source of protein in recent years because of their high nutritional content and low production costs. However, consumer acceptance of insect-based foods still poses a big challenge in many societies. Across three studies, we examined how social companions (alone, friend, family, acquaintance, partner) and location (cafe, bar, pub, food festival) are associated with people’s willingness to eat insect-based foods. We also examined the positive arousing (fun, excitement) and positive calming (romance, tranquility) emotions that were evoked by several eating contexts. The results of Studies 1 and 2 revealed that participants expected that they would be more willing to eat insect-based foods with friends (vs. alone, family, acquaintance, partner) and in pubs and at food festivals (vs. in a cafe, bar). The results of Study 3 replicated the main findings of the first two studies using the actual names (not pictures) of insect-based food products, namely ‘mealworm burger’ and ‘cricket chocolate bar’. Moreover, these contexts, where people would be more willing to eat insect-based foods, were associated with positive arousing emotions (fun, excitement) rather than positive calming emotions (romance, tranquility). Taken together, then, these findings reveal the role of contexts associated with positive arousing emotions in eating insect-based foods and provide practical advice concerning the situations in which the consumer’s acceptance of insect-based foods may be increased.

Food Research International 137 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodres.2020.109367

Research on those variables that have been shown to influence the consumer’s choice of beer is reviewed. The focus is on the choice of whether to drink beer as opposed to a beverage from another category, and to a greater extent, the choice between different types or styles of beer. Inspired by previous research on a diverse array of factors that have been shown to influence food and beverage choice, the review examines how beer choice is driven by consumer variables (covering biological, psychological, and socio-cultural factors), product-intrinsic attributes (the sensory aspects of the beer itself), product-extrinsic attributes (external sensory characteristics, such as packaging), and contextual and environmental influences. These situational factors refer to variables such as the location where choice/consumption takes place (i.e., on- versus off-trade), as well as the context, occasion, and reason for drinking. Current trends related to choice and consumption, such as the emerging interest in beer-food pairing, are also examined. The review groups these attributes which affect people’s beer wanting, choice, and purchase in order to understand the beer consumer’s choice process. Along with general conclusions, a number of key directions for future research are also presented, given that the relative contribution of each type of factor on consumer’s choice behaviour is still unclear.

Multisensory packaging: Designing new product experiences p. 191-223 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94977-2_8

The last few years have seen an ongoing increase of interest in multisensory brand analysis and design. However, with the growing opportunity to design for each and every one of the customer’s senses, comes the challenge of knowing how best to conceptualize multisensory design without immediately becoming overwhelmed by the range of possibilities (not to mention potential multisensory stimulus combinations on offer). In this chapter, the various approaches that have been put forward over the years in order to facilitate intelligent/efficient multisensory design innovation are reviewed. The roles of crossmodal congruency, processing fluency, and sensory dominance in the context of multisensory packaging design are discussed. Based on the broad literature covered, we outline a novel framework for the Multisensory Analysis of Product Packaging (MAPP). We distinguish between different kinds of sensory information, elucidate some of the key ways in which they interact, and highlight a number of the most important questions that ought to be considered when it comes to the design of multisensory product packaging.

Multisensory packaging: Designing new product experiences p. 257-286 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94977-2_10

Traditionally, the design of brand elements and marketing communications has focused on visual and/or audiovisual attributes in order to convey a specific brand positioning or concept to the consumer. However, the majority of consumers’ everyday experiences go beyond simply just audiovisual inputs. With this in mind, in this chapter, we take an inclusive multisensory approach to the concept of premiumness, one that also incorporates tactile elements and briefly considers the chemical senses. In particular, we present an overview of the concept and review key research findings highlighting specific associations between different sensory attributes and premiumness, luxury, or their specific component dimensions, in the context of product packaging. Generally speaking, there is not yet a great deal of research detailing how to express premiumness via specifically multisensory packaging cues beyond its visual aspects. However, what evidence there is does appear to suggest that the concept can be conveyed through multiple sensory channels, thus positioning this theme as providing a clear opportunity for brand innovation and differentiation.

Frontiers of Computer Science 1 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fcomp.2019.00003

Given the increasing possibilities of short- and long-term space travel to the Moon and Mars, it is essential not only to design nutritious foods but also to make eating an enjoyable experience. To date, though, perhaps unsurprisingly, most research on space food design has emphasized the functional and nutritional aspects of food, and there are no systematic studies that focus on the human experience of eating in space. It is known, however, that food has a multi-dimensional and multi-sensorial role in societies and that sensory, hedonic, and social features of eating and food design should not be underestimated. Here, we present how research in the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) can provide a user- centered design approach to co-create innovative ideas around the future of food and eating in space, balancing functional and experiential factors. Based on our research and inspired by advances in human-food interaction design, we have developed three design concepts that integrate and tackle the functional, sensorial, emotional, social, and environmental/atmospheric aspects of “eating experiences in space.” We can particularly capitalize on recent technological advances around digital fabrication, 3D food printing technology, and virtual and augmented reality to enable the design and integration of multisensory eating experiences. We also highlight that in future space travel, the target users will diversify. In relation to such future users, we need to consider not only astronauts (current users, paid to do the job) but also paying customers (non-astronauts) who will be able to book a space holiday to the Moon or Mars. To create the right conditions for space travel and satisfy those users, we need to innovate beyond the initial excitement of designing an “eating like an astronaut” experience. To do so we carried out a three-stage research and design process: (1) first we collected data on users imaginary of eating in space through an online survey (n = 215) to conceptualize eating experiences for short- and long-term space flights (i.e., Moon, Mars); then (2) we iteratively created three design concepts, and finally (3) asked experts in the field for their feedback on our designs. We discuss our results in the context of the wider multisensory experience design and research space

European Journal of Marketing Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-09-2017-0586

Counterfeiting is a menace in the emerging markets and many successful brands are falling prey to it. Counterfeit brands not only deceive consumers but also fuel a demand for lower priced replicas, both of which can devalue the bona-fide brand. But can consumers accurately identify a counterfeit logo? This paper aims to explore this question and examines the accuracy and speed with which a consumer can identify a counterfeit (vs original) logo.

Multisensory packaging: Designing new product experiences p. 319-347 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94977-2_12

Given the explosion of interest in the fields of multisensory packaging design and consumer neuroscience/neuromarketing in recent years, it is natural to wonder what relevance the latter approaches have as far as the optimization of the former is concerned. In this review, we chart the use of neuroimaging techniques such as electroencephalography and functional magnetic resonance imaging by those wishing to understand the neural response of consumers to various examples of multisensory product packaging. The hope is that such insights might one day help businesses to better predict the performance of product packaging, given specific strategic objectives. To date, much of the research has focused simply on determining the network of brain areas that are involved in processing visual images of product packaging. Intriguingly, though, the latest findings now suggest that composite brain measures seen in response to product communication may, under certain conditions at least, be used to predict a product’s sales success in the marketplace. We highlight the key challenges associated with using neuroimaging techniques for packaging research and stress the limitations (such as the challenges associated with assessing the influence of tactile and olfactory attributes of the packaging, as well as collecting repeated measures when consumers interact with the product in its packaging). We end by reviewing the latest insights that have emerged from the use of neuroscience-inspired (consumer neuroscience) techniques (including so-called implicit tests, such as the Implicit Association Test, and eye-tracking), that have managed to overcome some of the limitations associated with neuroimaging.

Multisensory packaging: Designing new product experiences p. 21-48 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94977-2_2

Colour is a key element in multisensory packaging design and branding. In-store, and increasingly online, it plays an important role in guiding the shopper’s attention. A distinctive colour/colour scheme can also act as a valuable brand asset, signalling a specific brand and everything that it stands for. That said, in many product categories, packaging colour is primarily used to convey product-related information/meaning. In any one of these roles, packaging colour can exert a significant influence over the customer’s product experience even when the latter happens to be consumed away from its packaging. In this review, we highlight the multiple roles played by packaging colour and stress the contextual determinants of its meaning. We also touch on the individual differences in colour associations that can hinder the effective implementation of packaging design for those wanting to deliver colour schemes that convey the ‘right’ meaning to different groups of consumers (e.g., cross-culturally).

Palgrave Macmillan

Food Quality and Preference 71 p. 438-446 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.08.018

People map different sensory stimuli, and words that describe/refer to those stimuli, onto spatial dimensions in a manner that is non-arbitrary. Here, we evaluate whether people also associate basic taste words and products with characteristic tastes with a distinctive location (e.g., upper right corner) or a more general direction (e.g., more right than left). Based on prior research on taste and location valence, we predicted that sweetness would be associated with higher vertical spatial positions than the other basic tastes. The results of Experiments 1 and 2 support the view that participants do indeed locate the word “sweet” higher in space than the word “bitter”. In Experiment 2, the participants also positioned products that are typically expected to be sweet (cupcake and honey) or bitter (beer and coffee) spatially. Overall, the sweet-tasting products were assigned to higher locations than were the bitter-tasting products. In order to test whether taste/location congruency would also affect product evaluations, a third experiment was conducted. The results of Experiment 3A (between participants) and 3B (within participants) failed to provide any evidence for the existence of consistent taste/location congruency effects. However, in Experiment 3B, the participants evaluated the sweet products as looking more appetizing when presented in upper relative to lower shelf locations. In none of the three studies was an association found between tastes and positions along the horizontal axis. Taken together, these results suggest that sweet and bitter tastes are differentially located in vertical, but not horizontal, space. The potential implications of these findings for both our understanding of the crossmodal correspondences, as well as for taste evaluation, and product placement are discussed.

Journal of Product & Brand Management Doi: https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-06-2018-1921

Purpose With trade amounting to more than US$400bn, counterfeiting is already affecting many successful brands. Often, consumers are deceived into buying fake products due to the visual similarity between fake and original brand logos. This paper aims to explore the varying forms of fraudulent imitation of original brand logotypes (operationalized at the level of logotype transposition), which can aid in the detection of a counterfeit brand. Design/methodology/approach Across two studies, this research tested how well consumers can differentiate counterfeit from original logos of well-known brands both explicitly and implicitly. Seven popular brand logos were altered to create different levels of visual dissimilarity and participants were required to discriminate the logos as fake or genuine. Findings Results demonstrate that although consumers can explicitly discriminate fake logos with a high degree of accuracy, the same is not true under conditions in which logos are presented very briefly (tapping participants’ implicit or automatic logo recognition capabilities), except when the first and last letters of the logotype are substituted. Originality/value A large body of research on counterfeit trade focuses on the individual or cross-cultural differences behind the prevalence of counterfeit trade. There is limited research exploring the ability of a consumer to correctly identify a fake logo, based on its varying similarity with the original logotype; this paper addresses this gap. Given that many of the purchase decisions are often made automatically, identifying key implicit differentiators that can help a consumer recognize a fake logo should be informative to both practitioners and academics.

Brill Academic Publishers

Psychology & Marketing Doi: https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21247

Brand names are a crucial part of the brand equity and marketing strategy of any company. Research suggests that companies spend considerable time and money to create suitable names for their brands and products. This paper uses the Zipf's law (or Principle of Least Effort) to analyze the perceived luxuriousness of brand names. One of the most robust laws in linguistics, Zipf's law describes the inverse relationship between a word's length and its frequency i.e., the more frequently a word is used in language, the shorter it tends to be. Zipf's law has been applied to many fields of science and in this paper, we provide evidence for the idea that because polysyllabic words (and brand names) are rare in everyday conversation, they are considered as more complex, distant, and abstract and that the use of longer brand names can enhance the perception of how luxurious a brand is (compared with shorter brand names, which are considered to be close, frequent, and concrete to consumers). Our results suggest that shorter names (mono‐syllabic) are better suited to basic brands whereas longer names (tri‐syllabic or more) are more appropriate for luxury brands.

Multisensory Research 32 p. 267-273 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-324500FW

Journal of Brand Management 27 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-019-00183-5

In the marketing literature, the ‘K efect’ refers to the claim that the letter K is overrepresented as the initial letter of brand names. To date, however, most fndings have only considered the frequency of the written letters incorporated into brand names. Here, we argue that since letters sometimes sound diferent when pronounced in diferent words (e.g., ‘C’ in Cartier vs. Cisco), a phonemic analysis of the initial phonemes is likely to be more insightful than merely a comparison of the written form (as reported by previous researchers). With this in mind, the initial phonemes of top brand names were analyzed and compared with: (1) words in the dictionary; (2) a corpus of contemporary American English; and (3) the most popular current children’s names in the USA. We also analyzed a diferent list of top brands, including both corporate brand names (e.g., Procter & Gamble) as well as the product-related brand names (e.g., Pantene). We conclude by reporting the most underrepresented [vowels (/aʊ/, /ɜː/, /ɔɪ/, /ɔː/) and consonants (/r/, /ʒ/, /l/, /θ/)] and overrepresented [vowels (/iː/, /əʊ/) and consonants (/j/, /z/, /f/, /dʒ/, /p/, /j/, /t/)] initial phonemes in the brand names vis-à-vis the current linguistic naming conventions.

Multisensory packaging: Designing new product experiences Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94977-2_4

Choosing the appropriate typeface and font for use in product packaging is an important part of the design process (or at least it should be). Yet, at the same time, it is also an area that is often neglected in books on packaging. This is particularly surprising given that virtually all packaging incorporates some text (e.g., logotypes, slogans, product information). A growing body of empirical research, however, now demonstrates that typefaces can be used to convey/reinforce specific brand associations. Insights into which features of the typeface might be best suited to conveying (or priming) different meanings emerged from the older research on the semantic differential technique and from more recent research on the crossmodal correspondences. Choosing typeface and font for the packaging that is incongruent with what a product stands for can negatively impact the consumer’s perception/evaluation of a brand. Meanwhile, iconic typefaces may, over time, come to be attached with specific brands, given our repeated exposure to them on packaging in the marketplace. In this chapter, we review the emerging literature on the scientific approach to typeface design, stressing the key role it can play in creating the most persuasive packaging solutions.

Journal of Interactive Marketing 45 p. 42-61 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.intmar.2018.07.004

People are increasingly purchasing (e.g., food, clothes) and consuming (e.g., movies, courses) online where, traditionally, the sensory interaction has mostly been limited to visual, and to a lesser extent, auditory inputs. However, other sensory interfaces (e.g., including touch screens, together with a range of virtual, and augmented solutions) are increasingly being made available to people to interact online. Moreover, recent progress in the field of human–computer interaction means that online environments will likely engage more of the senses and become more connected with offline environments in the coming years. This expansion will likely coincide with an increasing engagement with the consumer's more emotional senses, namely touch/haptics, and possibly even olfaction. Forward-thinking marketers and researchers will therefore need to appropriate the latest tools/technologies in order to deliver richer online experiences for tomorrow's consumers. This review is designed to help the interested reader better understand what sensory marketing in a digital context can offer, thus hopefully opening the way for further research and development in the area.

Multisensory Research 32(4-5) p. 275-318 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1163/22134808-20191403

Food product-extrinsic sounds (i.e., those auditory stimuli that are not linked directly to a food or beverage product, or its packaging) have been shown to exert a significant influence over various aspects of food perception and consumer behaviour, often operating outside of conscious awareness. In this review, we summarise the latest evidence concerning the various ways in which what we hear can influence what we taste. According to one line of empirical research, background noise interferes with tasting, due to attentional distraction. A separate body of marketing-relevant research demonstrates that music can be used to bias consumers’ food perception, judgments, and purchasing/consumption behaviour in various ways. Some of these effects appear to be driven by the arousal elicited by loud music as well as the entrainment of people’s behaviour to the musical beat. However, semantic priming effects linked to the type and style of music are also relevant. Another route by which music influences food perception comes from the observation that our liking/preference for the music that we happen to be listening to carries over to influence our hedonic judgments of what we are tasting. A final route by which hearing influences tasting relates to the emerging field of ‘sonic seasoning’. A developing body of research now demonstrates that people often rate tasting experiences differently when listening to soundtracks that have been designed to be (or are chosen because they are) congruent with specific flavour experiences (e.g., when compared to when listening to other soundtracks, or else when tasting in silence). Taken together, such results lead to the growing realization that the crossmodal influences of music and noise on food perception and consumer behaviour may have some important if, as yet, unrecognized implications for public health.

Multisensory packaging: Designing new product experiences p. 349-374 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94977-2_13

The recent development of various sensory-enabling technologies (SETs) has attracted the interest of those marketers wishing to enhance the online and in-store multisensory experiences that they offer to customers. Such technologies have also proven relevant to the delivery of more engaging multisensory human-food interactions. However, to date, little work has been conducted on their potential role in the interaction between consumers and product packaging, a key element of branding. In this chapter, we present an overview of how the latest SETs can be (and in some cases already are being) incorporated into the packaging of various different products in order to deliver novel multisensory product experiences. We predict that these technologies will increasingly come to enhance the scope of packaging as a marketing communication tool. They might, for instance, be used to project people into consumption experiences, promote brand engagement, as well as improve product evaluation, by means of, say, augmented reality applications. Such technologies will become an increasingly important element in the consumer experience. They may even be able to enhance the perceived sensory properties of products, help in personalization, and/or help regulating our eating behaviour.

Frontiers in Psychology 9(MAY) Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00796

Frontiers in Psychology 9(26) Doi: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00026

There is growing interest in the development of new technologies that capitalize on our emerging understanding of the multisensory influences on flavor perception in order to enhance human–food interaction design. This review focuses on the role of (extrinsic) visual, auditory, and haptic/tactile elements in modulating flavor perception and more generally, our food and drink experiences. We review some of the most exciting examples of recent multisensory technologies for augmenting such experiences. Here, we discuss applications for these technologies, for example, in the field of food experience design, in the support of healthy eating, and in the rapidly growing world of sensory marketing. However, as the review makes clear, while there are many opportunities for novel human–food interaction design, there are also a number of challenges that will need to be tackled before new technologies can be meaningfully integrated into our everyday food and drink experiences.

Proceedings of the International Astronautical Congress 2018-October

Food Quality and Preference 68(September) p. 250-257 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.03.012

Research on taste-shape correspondences has focused on one-to-one taste/shape matching tasks. However, foods and drinks tend to involve multiple shapes (or shape attributes) and tastes that co-occur at different moments of our eating experiences. In the present research, we assessed whether food concepts involving more than one taste (e.g., “sweet and sour”) would be associated with pairs of round and/or angular shapes. The participants matched pairs comprising angular and round shapes with “sweet and sour” food concepts more often than with other single taste and taste combination concepts, in a manner that is broadly consistent with studies involving one-to-one taste/shape matches. These results were observed both when the participants were presented with the shape pairs alone (Experiment 1) or along with a product’s packaging (Experiment 2). We conclude by presenting possible explanations for the results obtained, as well as directions for future research

International Journal of Gastronomy and Food Science 11 p. 63-74 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgfs.2017.11.007

People associate specific shape properties with basic taste attributes (such as sweet, bitter, and sour). It has been suggested that more preferred visual aesthetic features are matched to sweetness whereas less-preferred features are matched with tastes such as bitter and sour instead. Given the range of visual aesthetic features that have been shown to be associated with typeface designs, it would seem reasonable to suggest that typefaces might therefore be associated with specific taste properties as well. Should that be the case, one might then wonder whether viewing text presented in, say, a rounder typeface would also potentially influence the perception of sweetness, as compared to viewing the same information when presented in a more angular typeface. Here, we summarize the latest findings supporting the existence of a crossmodal correspondence between typeface features, in particular curvilinearity, and basic tastes. Moreover, we present initial evidence that suggests that, under certain circumstances, typeface curvilinearity can influence taste ratings. Given such evidence, it can be argued that typeface may well be an important, if often neglected, aspect of our everyday lives which can be potentially useful in the design of food and drink product and brand experiences.

Marketing letters 29(4) p. 435-449 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-018-9473-6

Exaggerated portion sizes are generally pictured on the front of product packaging in order to stimulate food craving and encourage consumer purchasing decisions. However, one problem with such images is that they can set inappropriate norms as far as food consumption is concerned and hence result in people serving themselves more than they otherwise might. The research reported here builds on the fact that depicting a food portion in a smaller (vs. larger) container (i.e., plate or bowl) creates the illusion of a larger (vs. smaller) portion, although the actual quantity of food remains the same (this is known as the Delboeuf illusion). Here, we demonstrate in two experiments that by presenting food in a smaller container (thus giving rise to the illusion of a relatively larger portion), participants have higher purchase intentions (study 1) and perceive the food as being more appetizing (study 2) but, crucially, decrease the size of the portion that they serve themselves (studies 1 and 2). Overall, by giving the impression of a larger portion on product packaging, the Delboeuf illusion could potentially be used to nudge consumers to find food more desirable, while at the same time leading them to reduce their serving, thus potentially benefitting both consumers and the food industry.

Food Quality and Preference 68 p. 226-237 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2018.03.008

Colour is perhaps the single most important element as far as the design of multisensory product packaging is concerned. It plays a key role in capturing the attention of the shopper in-store. A distinctive colour, or colour scheme, can also act as a valuable brand attribute (think here only of the signature colour schemes of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate). In many categories, though, colour is used to convey information to the consumer about a product’s sensory properties (e.g., taste or flavour, say), or else to prime other more abstract brand attributes (such as, for example, premium, natural, or healthy). However, packaging colour can also affect the customer’s product experience as well: Indeed, a growing body of empirical research now shows that packaging colour affects everything from the expected and perceived taste and flavour of food and beverage products through to the fragrance of home and personal care items. Packaging colour, then, plays a dominant role at several stages of the consumer’s product experience.

Attention, Perception & Psychophysics 80(3) p. 738-751 Doi: https://doi.org/10.3758/s13414-017-1463-x

Despite the rapid growth of research on the crossmodal correspondence between visually presented shapes and basic tastes (e.g., sweet, sour, bitter, and salty), most studies that have been published to date have focused on shape contour (roundness/angularity). Meanwhile, other important features, such as symmetry, as well as the underlying mechanisms of the shape–taste correspondence, have rarely been studied. Over two experiments, we systematically manipulated the symmetry and contours of shapes and measured the influences of these variables on shape–taste correspondences. Furthermore, we investigated a potential underlying mechanism, based on the common affective appraisal of stimuli in different sensory modalities. We replicated the results of previous studies showing that round shapes are associated with sweet taste, whereas angular shapes are associated with sour and bitter tastes. In addition, we demonstrated a novel effect that the symmetry group of a shape influences how it is associated with taste. A significant relationship was observed between the taste and appraisal scores of the shapes, suggesting that the affective factors of pleasantness and threat underlie the shape–taste correspondence. These results were consistent across cultures, when we compared participants from Taiwanese and Western (UK, US, Canada) cultures. Our findings highlight that perceived pleasantness and threat are culturally common factors involved in at least some crossmodal correspondences.

Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts 12(2) p. 236-248 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/aca0000120

People associate tastes and taste words (e.g., “bitter,” “sweet,” etc.) with shape features in predictable ways. In the present study, we evaluate how the curvature and boldness of typeface influences the gustatory taste (i.e., bitter, salty, sour, and sweet) associated with the typefaces of words written in 3 languages (Spanish, English, and Chinese). The study also included participants from 3 countries: Colombia, the United Kingdom, and China. Consistent with previous research, rounder typefaces were reliably associated with the word sweet, whereas more angular typefaces were associated with the other tastes in all 3 languages and countries. These results provide robust support for the notion that shape curvature is differentially matched to tastes, in a manner that is similar, across countries. Moreover, the results also indicate that all of the participants evaluated the angular typefaces in Spanish and English as more bitter, salty, and sour than the round typefaces in Spanish and English, but this angular/rounded effect was not found with Chinese typefaces. Additionally, the rounder typefaces were evaluated as sweeter than the angular typefaces in all languages and countries. Given that the Chinese round and angular characters differed only in terms of the perceived curvature (not liking, familiarity, and clarity), it is not possible to conclude that liking accounts for all the correspondences that we report. Possible mechanisms and directions for future research are discussed

Journal of Business Research 75 p. 240-248 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.07.021

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 107 p. 62-74 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.06.003

Many people are understandably excited by the suggestion that the chemical senses can be digitized; be it to deliver ambient fragrances (e.g., in virtual reality or health-related applications), or else to transmit flavour experiences via the internet. However, to date, progress in this area has been surprisingly slow. Furthermore, the majority of the attempts at successful commercialization have failed, often in the face of consumer ambivalence over the perceived benefits/utility. In this review, with the focus squarely on the domain of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), we summarize the state-of-the-art in the area. We highlight the key possibilities and pitfalls as far as stimulating the so-called ‘lower’ senses of taste, smell, and the trigeminal system are concerned. Ultimately, we suggest that mixed reality solutions are currently the most plausible as far as delivering (or rather modulating) flavour experiences digitally is concerned. The key problems with digital fragrance delivery are related to attention and attribution. People often fail to detect fragrances when they are concentrating on something else; And even when they detect that their chemical senses have been stimulated, there is always a danger that they attribute their experience (e.g., pleasure) to one of the other senses – this is what we call ‘the fundamental attribution error’. We conclude with an outlook on digitizing the chemical senses and summarize a set of open-ended questions that the HCI community has to address in future explorations of smell and taste as interaction modalities

Interactions 24(6) p. 38-43 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1145/3137091

International Journal of Human-Computer Studies 108 p. 1-14 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2017.06.004

The use of the senses of vision and audition as interactive means has dominated the field of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) for decades, even though nature has provided us with many more senses for perceiving and interacting with the world around us. That said, it has become attractive for HCI researchers and designers to harness touch, taste, and smell in interactive tasks and experience design. In this paper, we present research and design insights gained throughout an interdisciplinary collaboration on a six-week multisensory display – Tate Sensorium – exhibited at the Tate Britain art gallery in London, UK. This is a unique and first time case study on how to design art experiences whilst considering all the senses (i.e., vision, sound, touch, smell, and taste), in particular touch, which we exploited by capitalizing on a novel haptic technology, namely, mid-air haptics. We first describe the overall set up of Tate Sensorium and then move on to describing in detail the design process of the mid-air haptic feedback and its integration with sound for the Full Stop painting by John Latham (1961). This was the first time that mid-air haptic technology was used in a museum context over a prolonged period of time and integrated with sound to enhance the experience of visual art. As part of an interdisciplinary team of curators, sensory designers, sound artists, we selected a total of three variations of the mid-air haptic experience (i.e., haptic patterns), which were alternated at dedicated times throughout the six-week exhibition. We collected questionnaire-based feedback from 2500 visitors and conducted 50 interviews to gain quantitative and qualitative insights on visitors’ experiences and emotional reactions. Whilst the questionnaire results are generally very positive with only a small variation of the visitors’ arousal ratings across the three tactile experiences designed for the Full Stop painting, the interview data shed light on the differences in the visitors’ subjective experiences. Our findings suggest multisensory designers and art curators can ensure a balance between surprising experiences versus the possibility of free exploration for visitors. In addition, participants expressed that experiencing art with the combination of mid-air haptic and sound was immersive and provided an up-lifting experience of touching without touch. We are convinced that the insights gained from this large-scale and real-world field exploration of multisensory experience design exploiting a new and emerging technology provide a solid starting point for the HCI community, creative industries, and art curators to think beyond conventional art experiences. Specifically, our work demonstrates how novel mid-air technology can make art more emotionally engaging and stimulating, especially abstract art that is often open to interpretation.

Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) 10525 LNCS p. 316-330 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-67738-5_19

Journal of Brand Management 24(6) p. 522-545 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41262-017-0048-2

IEEE Multimedia 24(2) p. 9-13 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/MMUL.2017.33

Food Quality and Preference 56 p. 201-211 Doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2016.10.013