Blending Emotions and Cross-Modality in Sonic Seasoning: Towards Greater Applicability in the Design of Multisensory Food Experiences

Abstract

Sonic seasoning refers to the way in which music can influence multisensory tasting experiences. To date, the majority of the research on sonic seasoning has been conducted in Europe or the USA, typically in a within-participants experimental context. In the present study, we assessed the applicability of sonic seasoning in a large-scale between-participants setting in Asia. A sample of 1611 participants tasted one sample of chocolate while listening to a song that evoked a specific combination of cross-modal and emotional consequences. The results revealed that the music’s emotional character had a more prominent effect than its cross-modally corresponding attributes on the multisensory tasting experience. Participants expressed a higher buying intention for the chocolate and rated it as having a softer texture when listening to mainly positive (as compared to mainly negative) music. The chocolates were rated as having a more intense flavor amongst those participants listening to ‘softer’ as compared to ‘harder’ music. Therefore, the present study demonstrates that music is capable of triggering a combination of specific cross-modal and emotional effects in the multisensory tasting experience of a chocolate.

Information loss and bias in likert survey responses

“…Cross-sensory response research in [ 29 ], specifically studies in the human taste response to music, has pioneered Bayesian alternatives to frequentist analysis of Likert-scaled data. In [ 29 ] a sample of 1611 participants tasted one sample of chocolate while listening to a song that evoked a specific combination of cross-modal and emotional consequences.…”

“…Cross-sensory response research in [ 29 ], specifically studies in the human taste response to music, has pioneered Bayesian alternatives to frequentist analysis of Likert-scaled data. In [ 29 ] a sample of 1611 participants tasted one sample of chocolate while listening to a song that evoked a specific combination of cross-modal and emotional consequences. The researchers addressed difficulties in interpreting frequentist statistical tests using discrete, categorical responses by applying a Bayesian model to quantify the information content of a response.…”

“…The researchers addressed difficulties in interpreting frequentist statistical tests using discrete, categorical responses by applying a Bayesian model to quantify the information content of a response. The approach used in [ 29 ] is well suited to sentiment analysis problems that have long been analyzed using structural equation models and frequentest Neyman-Pearson hypothesis tests [ 30 , 31 ].…”

Sonic Seasoning and Other Multisensory Influences on the Coffee Drinking Experience

“…Hedonic/emotional sensation transference effects from music to taste have also been demonstrated (e.g., Reinoso-Carvalho et al, 2019, 2020a. Indeed, some of the most exciting recent research has shown that sonic seasoning and sonic sensation transference can be combined and thus be triggered concurrently (see Reinoso-Carvalho et al, 2020b). In the latter study, for instance, Reinoso-Carvalho et al chose one pair of musical tracks designed to induce emotion, and another pair of tracks that had been demonstrated to give rise to sonic seasoning.…”

Commercializing Sonic Seasoning in Multisensory Offline Experiential Events and Online Tasting Experiences

“…The downside of using specially composed music tracks (or soundscapes) is that they may not offer the same emotional punch as more recognizable popular music tracks (e.g., Reinoso-Carvalho et al, 2020a , b ). This is important, given that the latest research from Reinoso-Carvalho and his colleagues suggesting that “sensation transference” effects may be more pronounced than sonic seasoning (see also ‘The delicate connection between sound and taste’, 2021 ).…”