No abstract

In the last few years, psychologists and neuroscientists have increasingly investigated the presence of multisensory interactions in people's perceptions of food and beverage. For example, the results of a recent questionnaire-based study showed that wine is believed to be more expensive and of better quality when contained in a heavier bottle. However, it remains unclear whether various foods or liquids share similar multisensory associations in the mind of the consumer. In a laboratory study, we investigated the multisensory interactions between the taste of mineral water and the weight of the plastic cup in which it is served. The participants evaluated the freshness, pleasantness, level of carbonation, and lightness of two types of mineral water (i.e., still and carbonated) using visual analogue scales. The water was served in three identical plastic cups, varying only in terms of their weight (i.e., light, medium, and heavy). The results showed that when a heavier cup was used, the participants perceived the mineral water as less pleasant. By contrast, they rated the water served in heavier cups as more carbonated than water served in lighter cups. These data demonstrate that crossmodal associations in taste perception depend on the category of the product being evaluated and the specific quality that is rated. Such findings are extremely important for understanding the role of sensory interaction in food evaluation as well as encouraging healthier eating and drinking behaviors. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONSRecently, an increasing number of studies has shown that consumer's taste perception can be affected by certain features of the container in which food or beverage is served and/or experienced. The present study has important implications not only for understanding the multisensory interactions affecting beverage perception, but also for marketing and packaging design purposes. In particular, marketing strategies would certainly benefit from understanding the perception of package or container attributes that can drive consumer's perception and choice of certain beverages. Furthermore, understanding one or more aspects of a container that facilitates the perception of water as more appealing may help improve the drinking experience for people who are at risk of dehydration, with possible positive consequences for their water intake.

Studies of olfactory perception and about the way humans interact with, and perceive food and beverages require appropriate olfactory devices. Moreover, small size, and portable interfaces are needed within the context of Human Computer Interaction (HCI), to enrich and complete the design of different mediated experiences. In this paper, the authors tested a new portable olfactory device for the orthonasal administration of smells. The main aim was to verify if the experience generated by the odors delivered through such device can affect people's taste perception. Once established that people could perceive odors using the olfactory device, a group of participants was asked to taste two different types of food (Experiment 1) and three types of beverages (Experiment 2) and to evaluate them on a number of perceptual-dimensions (such as pleasantness, freshness, sweetness, saltiness, and bitterness). The participants could taste the food and the beverage without the presence of additional olfactory stimuli, or under conditions where olfactory stimuli (the smell of chocolate or citrus) were also presented using the device. The results showed that the participants' evaluation of food and beverages was significantly modulated by the concurrently presented odors. The experimental results suggest that: (1) the device is effective in controlling the delivery of odors to human participants without the complexity of management that often affect larger odors delivery systems; (2) odors administered by means of such device can have an effects on food and beverage perception, without the need to change their chemical properties.

Facial attractiveness plays an important role in everyday social interactions. In the present study, we investigated whether people's evaluation of attractiveness can be modulated by odours. In Experiment 1, twelve participants rated a series of odours on several perceptual and synaesthetic characteristics (gender, pleasantness, cheerfulness, intensity, arousal and association with food), along visual analogue scales. In Experiment 2, the participants judged the attractiveness of female and male faces, while smelling an odour that was rated in Experiment 1 as more feminine (caramel), masculine (licorice) or when odourless water was presented. The results showed that the participants evaluated female faces as more attractive when the caramel odour was concurrently presented. By contrast, the participants evaluated the male faces as more attractive when the licorice odour was presented. These results highlight the importance of the synaesthetic associations between “gender” and odours on people's judgements of facial attractiveness.

The present study investigates the effect of container texture on people’s perception of four characteristics (i.e., freshness, pleasantness, level of carbonation, lightness) of mineral water (i.e., still or carbonated). Water was served in three commercial cups covered with a layer of sandpaper, satin, or the same material of the cup (plastic). The blindfolded participants were asked to evaluate the mineral water using visual analogue scales. The results showed that mineral water was perceived as fresher and more pleasant when contained in plastic cups than when it was contained in cups covered with sandpaper or satin. Moreover, mineral water was perceived as lighter when contained in plastic cups than when it was contained in cups covered with sandpaper. These results suggest that people’s perception of some characteristics of mineral water can be modulated by the texture of the container in which the liquid is served.