Note: This is part one of a three-part series on how the senses not directly linked to taste—sight, hearing, touch—affect perception of flavor.
Everyone knows that flavor is created with information from taste buds on the tongue and smell receptors in the nose. But flavor goes far beyond those two senses; research shows that everything from packaging to noise to container weight affect how flavor is perceived. One researcher has been particularly influential in studying how multi-sensory perception affects flavor: Dr. Charles Spence, head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at Oxford University. His research is so prolific that we can’t fit it all in one article, so stay tuned for follow-up posts on his fascinating findings.
Let’s start by looking at Dr. Spence’s research on the interactions between sight and taste. Here are three surprising ways that sight changes the perceived flavor and value of beverages.
1. The color of the mug changes the flavor of coffee.
Most of us wouldn’t think that the color of a mug would have any effect on how the coffee within it tastes, but it does. In one experiment, Dr. Spence and his team had participants rate the flavor of a caffè latte served in a white, clear, or blue mug. In the first experiment, the white mug had a significant influence on the “intensity” of the coffee. A follow-up experiment used colored sleeves to control for any influence of mug shape or perceived value, and the white-mug difference persisted: this time, the white mug made the caffè latte taste significantly less sweet than the clear or blue mug.
“The crossmodal effect of the colour of the mug on the flavour of the coffee reported here suggests that café owners, baristas, as well as crockery manufacturers should carefully consider the colour of the mug and the potential effects that its colour may exert over the multi-sensory coffee drinking experience,” conclude the researchers.
2. Lighting color and music sweetness change the flavors of wine.
Various research has shown that lighting color and music choice—two major factors in a restaurant’s ambiance—change perceived taste. Dr. Spence and his team wanted to examine how the two factors combine to affect the flavor of wine, specifically on perceived sweetness. Hypothesizing that the brain associates red and smooth with ripeness, while green and sharp connote bitterness, they served a Rioja wine in white, red, or green lighting with either sweet or sour music playing.
Several differences were notable. Green lighting with sour music made the wine taste fresher and less intense. White lighting made the wine taste fresh, and also made the wine more likeable, regardless of music. But the most likeable condition was red lighting with sweet music.
The researchers note that “these results demonstrate that the environment in which a wine is tasted can indeed exert a significant influence on the perception of wine,” something all restauranteurs should consider.
3. The right glassware makes alcoholic beverages more valuable.
An online study presented consumers in the US and China with pictures of various alcoholic beverages (red wine, white wine, beer, whisky, and Chinese baijiu) in various kinds of glasses (narrow, wide, or stemless wine glass; highball glass; beer mug) and asked them to rank the drinks in terms of liking, familiarity, and congruency. The different combinations had a significant effect: the drinks were more likeable, and participants were willing to pay more for them, when they were in the congruent glassware.
Bar owners who are considering getting experimental with dishware should take note: “These findings highlight the influence of content-context congruency on consumers’ subjective ratings and willingness-to-pay.”
As these findings show, multi-sensory research can teach us a lot about crossmodal influences on taste. As Dr. Spence put it in a recent New Yorker profile, “These effects do exist. The only question is whether and how we will use them.” Savvy brands can harness this information to increase customer pleasure.
Tags: Consumer BehaviorDecision MakingEmotional ResponsePackage DesignShopper Research