The sweetest thing: the influence of angularity, symmetry, and the number of elements on shape-valence and shape-taste matches

Salgado‐Montejo, Alejandro; Alvarado, Jaime; Velasco, Carlos; Salgado-Rohner, Carlos José; Hasse, Kendra; Spence, Charles

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01382

Cited by 72 publications

(77 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Across a range of food products, round forms are believed to be associated with a sweeter taste [1], which is corroborated through a number of experiments [4]. Although such effects are readily discerned in exploratory research and shape-taste matching studies [4,5], it also seems to hold for empirical research involving actual food products. For instance, sweeter beers, as well as sweeter chocolate, are more strongly associated with round shapes [6,7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Bittersweet Findings: Round Cups Fail to Induce Sweeter Taste

Machiels

2018

Beverages

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An increasing body of literature demonstrates that consumers associate visual information with specific gustatory elements. This phenomenon is better known as cross-modal correspondence. A specific correspondence that has received attention of late is the one between round forms and sweet taste. Research indicates that roundness (as opposed to angularity) is consistently associated with an increased sweetness perception. Focusing on two different cup forms (round versus angular), two studies tested this association for a butter milk drink and a mate-based soft drink. Results, however, were not able to corroborate the frequently suggested correspondence effect, but a correspondence was found between the angular cup and a more bitter taste for the soft drink. These results are discussed in light of previous findings matching sweetness with roundness and bitterness with angularity, hopefully aiding researchers in this field in conducting future experiments.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 82%

Bittersweet Findings: Round Cups Fail to Induce Sweeter Taste

Machiels

2018

Beverages

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“…It has been shown that, along with angular shapes, asymmetrical shapes also tend to be associated with unpleasantness and sourness (as opposed to pleasantness and sweetness) by participants from both the UK and Colombia [35]. a b Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the effect of shape on the evaluation of expected and actual chocolate flavour

Wang

Carvalho

Persoone³

et al. 2017

Flavour

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Background: Shape can play an important role in our perception of food. In this study, the consequences of crossmodal correspondences between shape and taste on the expected and actual experience of eating chocolate were evaluated. Participants were given two identical dark chocolates differing only in terms of their shape (round or angular) and then rated their expectations of sweetness, bitterness, creaminess and liking. Subsequently, they rated their experience of those attributes on tasting the chocolates. Repeated-measures multivariate analyses (RM-MANOVA) of variance were conducted to assess the role of chocolate shape and cacao content on expected and post-taste chocolate ratings. In addition, we assessed the differences between expected and post-taste ratings for each chocolate shape. Results: The results revealed that the shape of the chocolate significantly influenced expected sweetness, bitterness and creaminess. By contrast, it had no significant effect on post-tasting ratings. The round chocolates were judged to be less sweet, more bitter, less creamy and liked less than expected, whereas the angular chocolates were judged to be slightly more creamy than expected. Conclusions: The theory of assimilation and contrast is outlined as one plausible mechanism behind the differences between expectation and the actual taste experience. Implications for food product design and directions for future research are discussed.

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“…That said, Ngo et al (2013) have observed consistent crossmodal correspondences across cultures. Specifically, they demonstrated that British and Colombian participants associated sweet fruit juices with round shapes and sour fruit juices with angular shapes (see also Salgado-Montejo et al, 2015;Wan et al, 2014). Bremner et al's (2013) findings, and the work of others (e.g., Williams & Bargh, 2008), show that at least some of the associations between shapes and the tastes, flavours, aromas, and oral-somatosensory attributes of food and beverages are likely learned.…”

Section: Cross-cultural Researchmentioning

confidence: 93%

Does the shape of a cup influence coffee taste expectations? A cross-cultural, online study

Doorn

Woods

Levitan

et al. 2017

Food Quality and Preference

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We report a study designed to investigate whether shape-taste crossmodal correspondences would influence consumers' expectations concerning coffee. To that end, we conducted a cross-cultural online survey with respondents (N = 309) from China, Colombia, and the United Kingdom (UK). The participants had to rate eight coffee mugs on eight scales by arranging the mugs within a 1000 × 250 pixel box, placing each mug so that its horizontal position matched how strongly they thought the mug matched the scale presented. Amongst other findings, the results revealed that (1) the coffee was expected to be more aromatic from narrower diameter mugs, (2) the coffee associated with shorter mugs was expected to be both more bitter and more intense, and (3) the coffee was expected to be sweeter from wider diameter mugs. An interesting cross-cultural finding was that participants from the UK expected the mugs to be hotter than participants from either China or Colombia. These results add to a large and growing body of research highlighting the associations between visual information and a product's likely (or expected) sensory qualities. These findings may be useful to those preparing coffee as they suggest that coffee should be presented in certain mugs in order to convey a message that is congruent with the consumer's expectations.

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The sweetest thing: the influence of angularity, symmetry, and the number of elements on shape-valence and shape-taste matches

Cited by 72 publications

References 69 publications

Bittersweet Findings: Round Cups Fail to Induce Sweeter Taste

Bittersweet Findings: Round Cups Fail to Induce Sweeter Taste

Assessing the effect of shape on the evaluation of expected and actual chocolate flavour

Does the shape of a cup influence coffee taste expectations? A cross-cultural, online study

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