{"title":"When the music stops: Crossmodal effects of sounds on taste do not explain changes in liking","authors":"Johan Swahn, Asgeir Nilsen, Iuri Baptista","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105576","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105576","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Environmental sounds influence taste perception and liking of food because eating is a multisensory experience that integrates all senses. The present study investigated how a dark chocolate ganache with two different levels of added sugar was perceived when sounds corresponding to sweet and bitter tastes were played, as well as no sound. A total of 515 participants rated the balance of sweet and bitter tastes using just-about-right (JAR) and the overall liking using a hedonic scale. Results show that the bitter sound increased the perception of bitterness of both ganache and the sweet sound increased the perception of sweetness of the higher-sugar ganache. Although not always significant, both sounds had positive effects on liking, even when they exacerbated tastes already in excess and pushed them further from the ideal. These results indicate that the sounds were effective in influencing sensory perceptions of ganache, but their effects on liking did not come from taste improvement, most likely from sensory-emotional stimulation. Together with previous studies that found significant effects of sound in perception of taste, aroma, and texture, but not in liking, this study adds evidence on the importance of environmental sounds in eating contexts and propose that crossmodal effects of sound and liking are independent processes.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105576"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143934753","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Reducing food waste: The role of yogurt appearance and package information across consumer segments","authors":"Aase (Åse) Riseng Grendstad , Ingunn Berget , Davide Porcellato , Hilde Kraggerud , Paula Varela","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105575","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105575","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In recent years, the food industry has prioritized minimizing food waste and promoting sustainability. Surface whey is a common quality defect in yogurt that can occur during storage, but it does not necessarily indicate that yogurt is unfit for consumption.</div><div>This study aimed to investigate the impact of package information regarding surface whey, and yogurt appearance on consumers' willingness to consume (WTC) yogurt before and after the best-before date. First, two focus groups (<em>n</em> = 16) were performed to qualitatively explore consumers purchasing habits, general knowledge of quality defects in yogurts, and their behavior regarding food waste; the results were used to design a quantitative study. Norwegian consumers (<em>n</em> = 298) participated in an online survey. Consumers assessed their WTC, based on photos and videos of eight yogurt samples, in a conjoint test with a 3 × 2 factorial design.</div><div>Results revealed that date labels and yogurt appearance significantly influence consumers' WTC yogurts, while package information had no significant effect. Consumers were segmented based on safety and quality concerns; hierarchical clustering showed two clusters. One concerned cluster, characterized by higher safety- and quality concerns, showed lower WTC yogurt past its best-before date compared to a less concerned cluster.</div><div>The findings suggest that strategies to reduce food waste should prioritize encouraging companies to extend the shelf life of products and to reconsider any dates that might be overly cautious. Educating consumers about product quality beyond date labels rather than relying solely on package instructions, is also vital.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105575"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-05-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143918172","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Mengying Liu , Zefei Chen , Jianping Huang , Xiaoang Wan
{"title":"From virtual reality visuals to real food perception: Uncovering the link between food aesthetics and taste in Chinese female consumers","authors":"Mengying Liu , Zefei Chen , Jianping Huang , Xiaoang Wan","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105569","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105569","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Previous research has shown that visual information presented in the digital space can influence consumers' perceptions and evaluations of real food. We conducted two experiments to examine how virtual food plating might influence participants' ratings of taste, pleasantness, and purchase intention for real food, as well as to pinpoint the boundary conditions of these cross-reality effects. In Experiment 1, forty participants tasted real food while simultaneously viewing either aesthetically or casually plated virtual food. The real and virtual food could be either of the same type or different types. Virtual food plating exerted an influence on the taste ratings of both types of real food. However, it only influenced the ratings of pleasantness and purchase intention for real food when the virtual and real food were of the same type. In Experiment 2, following the same experimental procedure, forty participants evaluated two types of food with distinct flavors, varying levels of familiarity, yet comparable preference ratings. Virtual food plating only affected the participants' taste ratings for food with delicate flavors. Moreover, the cross-reality effects on ratings of taste, pleasantness, and purchase intention emerged only when the participants were less familiar with the food. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that aesthetic cues from the digital space can be integrated with sensory experiences from the physical space, thereby influencing the evaluations of real food. These findings offer marketers insights into leveraging virtual reality technology to enhance consumers' dining experiences.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105569"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-29","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143899603","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paige M. Cunningham , Isaiah M. Smith , John E. Hayes
{"title":"Increasing the spiciness of a lunch meal influences oral processing behaviors and decreases food and energy intake","authors":"Paige M. Cunningham , Isaiah M. Smith , John E. Hayes","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105566","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105566","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Recent evidence suggests increasing oral burn by adding chilies to food modifies oral processing behaviors like eating rate, but how these modifications affect food intake remains unclear. In 3 crossover experiments, adults ate a 650 g lunch of beef chili [experiment 1; <em>n</em> = 52] or chicken tikka masala [experiment 2a; <em>n</em> = 44, and 2b; <em>n</em> = 34] twice in the laboratory while being video-recorded. We tested how adding chiles to a meal influenced (a) food intake and (b) oral processing. A consistent weight of paprika was added, but the ratio of hot-to-sweet paprika was varied, to make spicy (100 % hot paprika) and mild (75–100 % sweet paprika) versions of meals. Meal duration was extracted from videos to calculate eating rate (g/min). Participants rated liking and spiciness on a VAS before and after consumption. In Experiment 1, participants ate more slowly (<em>p</em> = 0.04), consuming 11 % less (46 ± 17 g) spicy chili relative to mild chili (<em>p</em> = 0.009). While initial ratings of spiciness differed (<em>p</em> < 0.0001), liking did not (<em>p</em> = 0.88). In Experiment 2a, spiciness ratings did not differ between conditions (<em>p</em> = 0.22), and intake did not differ (<em>p</em> = 0.36). Experiment 2b increased the total amount of paprika in the tikka, leading to significant differences in spiciness between conditions (<em>p</em> < 0.001), without affecting liking (<em>p</em> = 0.19). As with Experiment 1, this increase in spiciness resulted in an 18 % reduction in food intake and a 17 % reduction eating rate (both p's < 0.005). Overall, these experiments identify a non-textural manipulation that can be used to slow eating rate and reduce ad libitum intake without adversely impacting food pleasure.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105566"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143891958","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Anna Wang , José M. Grisolía , Ada H.Y. Ma , Juan de Dios Ortúzar
{"title":"Assessing the effect of health labels on online food choices","authors":"Anna Wang , José M. Grisolía , Ada H.Y. Ma , Juan de Dios Ortúzar","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105565","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105565","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Online takeaway platforms provide a convenient access to food and their importance has increased dramatically in the last years. Our research explores if and how food choices via takeaway apps change after individuals are informed about excessive calories, fats, carbohydrates, and salts. Our results have practical implications for public health and food choices. We designed an efficient stated choice experiment based on actual meals offered online in China and applied it in a Randomized Between-Subjects Design to a sample of 964 respondents across 10 large Chinese cities. We split the sample into two groups: exposed and not exposed to a colour-code, traffic light information system (TLS). Our analysis, using a Difference-in-Differences model and an Error Components Mixed Logit model, revealed that respondents exposed to nutrition information chose takeaway menus with less fat, salt and calories. However, the information did not affect the choice of tasty meals heavy in carbohydrates, as these are far too important in the typical Chinese diet. We also found that price, positive reviews, and delivery time were drivers of the respondents' food choices, but significantly less important than food preferences and tastiness. Regarding TLS, we confirmed that red (i.e. danger) had the most significant impact in dissuading customers from choosing unhealthy food (salt and fat). These findings are helpful in the design of public policies geared toward healthier food consumption habits in the population.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105565"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143923488","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unpacking healthy eating: An application of the model of goal-directed behavior","authors":"S. Sinem Atakan , Richard P. Bagozzi","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105553","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105553","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This research investigates the psychological and social drivers of healthy eating intentions and behavior using the Model of Goal-Directed Behavior (MGB), an extension of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). The MGB integrates affective (anticipated emotions), habitual (past behavior), and motivational (desire) factors, offering greater predictive power compared to the TPB. This research also examines the influence of cooking for self-consumption on perceived behavioral control over healthy eating. Data were collected from 369 adults via an online survey, with 141 participants completing a follow-up survey one month later to report actual eating behavior. Results indicate that anticipated emotions and subjective norms are key predictors of healthy eating desire, while attitudes show no significant effect. Desire predicts intentions, which, in turn, drive behavior. Notably, the self-efficacy component of perceived behavioral control moderates the desire-intention relationship, challenging traditional MGB assumptions. Additionally, cooking for self-consumption enhances both internal and external factors that shape perceived behavioral control. This research contributes to the prevailing debate on the role of affect versus attitudes in shaping food consumption behaviors, highlighting the dominant role of anticipated emotions over attitudes in driving healthy eating intentions, even when accounting for past behavior and subjective norms. The research also refines and extends the MGB by incorporating food preparation as an antecedent of perceived behavioral control, suggesting a novel mechanism for fostering control over healthy eating. The findings offer practical insights for designing interventions and programs that leverage emotions, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control to promote healthier eating behavior.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105553"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143891957","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Paul Naughton , Joshua Benjamin Schramm , Marcel Lichters
{"title":"The eyes eat first: Improving consumer acceptance of plant-based meat alternatives by adjusting front-of-pack labeling","authors":"Paul Naughton , Joshua Benjamin Schramm , Marcel Lichters","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105567","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105567","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The substitution of meat products with plant-based meat (PBM) alternatives is seen to foster sustainable consumption. It can play an important role in helping reach greenhouse gas emission targets. While consumers generally perceive PBM alternatives as more environmentally friendly and healthier than meat, they often find them less hedonically appealing and too expensive, which hinders their widespread adoption. One effective strategy to encourage consumers toward more sustainable choices is the use of front-of-pack information, such as claims and labels. This study identifies the most effective labeling strategy to increase consumers' preference for PBM burger patties through a three-fold research approach, namely, a supermarket audit in the UK, a best-worst scaling study (i.e., Maximum Difference Scaling), and a discrete choice experiment (i.e., choice-based conjoint analysis). In the UK market, front-of-pack labels and claims presented on PBM products can be categorized into those primarily related to nutrition, ecological welfare, and taste. These categories correspond to three distinct consumer segments extracted from a best-worst scaling study. A subsequent discrete choice experiment, which compared labeled PBM patties vis-à-vis meat patties, revealed that a third-party accredited taste label has the potential to gain the highest market share and willingness-to-pay among all types of labels/claims. Our findings underscore the importance of adopting an appropriate labeling strategy to foster sustainable food consumption.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105567"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143913224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Chloe Mellor , Rochelle Embling , Menna Price , Milena Rundle , Alexandra Meynier , Sophie Vinoy , Laura Wilkinson
{"title":"Energy density of snacking episodes and eating behaviour: A systematic review of experimental studies","authors":"Chloe Mellor , Rochelle Embling , Menna Price , Milena Rundle , Alexandra Meynier , Sophie Vinoy , Laura Wilkinson","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105557","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105557","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Snacking episodes can be defined as food and drink that are consumed between mealtimes. Snacking episodes can differ greatly in nutrient and energy content, having the potential to influence diet quality and, in turn, health. This systematic review aimed to understand the impact that the energy density of snacking episodes has on eating behaviour outcomes. Objective outcome measures included ad libitum snack intake and daily energy intake, and subjective measures included self-assessed hunger and satisfaction. Eight databases were searched based on set inclusion and exclusion criteria to identify peer-reviewed experimental studies with adult populations. Across the ten eligible studies, seven assessed hunger, five assessed fullness, one assessed overall satiety, five assessed desire to eat/prospective food consumption, and eight assessed energy intake, ad libitum intake/compensation with respect to the impact of snacking episodes' energy density. The weight of the evidence suggested that the energy density of snacking episodes has little effect on eating behaviour outcomes, with limited evidence suggesting that higher energy density snacking episodes could result in higher satiety levels and influence fullness levels but only at specific time points. Risk of confound was high, including little control over volume and sensory characteristics across studies, particularly those reporting significant effects. Overall, this literature would benefit from using standardised snacking comparisons, to confidently identify the impacts of energy density for snacking episodes on eating behaviour outcomes. Findings could inform future studies that aim to understand the formulation of snacking episode considering energy density, to benefit diet quality whilst maintaining consumer satisfaction.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105557"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143923482","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Maria Rosaria Giuffrè , Lapo Pierguidi , Aurélie Coubart , Caterina Dinnella , Aude Charbonneau , Erminio Monteleone , David Morizet , Sara Spinelli
{"title":"Capturing the sensory and emotional dynamics of cosmetic creams during usage: A temporal dominance approach","authors":"Maria Rosaria Giuffrè , Lapo Pierguidi , Aurélie Coubart , Caterina Dinnella , Aude Charbonneau , Erminio Monteleone , David Morizet , Sara Spinelli","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105556","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105556","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to investigate the relationships between sensory and emotional responses during product application, using the Temporal Dominance of Sensations (TDS) and the Temporal Dominance of Emotions (TDE) to capture the temporal evolution of sensory properties and emotions during the use of facial creams. A preliminary study was conducted (Study A) carrying out 20 qualitative interviews following the EmoSemio product-specific questionnaire protocol to identify 11 sensory attributes for the TDS assessment and 11 emotional attributes for the TDE test. The main study (Study B) was conducted on 100 women who regularly use facial creams evaluating five commercially available moisturizing face creams. The TDS and TDE evaluations spanned from the initial visual and olfactory assessments to cream application and post-application phases.</div><div>TDS and TDE curves, and the sensory-emotional trajectories revealed differences between products based on their dominant sensory attributes and emotions. These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of TDS and TDE methods to describe the evolution of sensory properties and emotions elicited by cosmetic creams during a single usage, suggesting their potential application to other product categories.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"131 ","pages":"Article 105556"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143913222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Manuel M. Ramos-Álvarez, Teresa L. Martín-Guerrero, Juan M. Rosas
{"title":"Dissociating sensory and decision processes in tasting: Intensity affects sensitivity, while expectancies and feedback interact, affecting decision criteria","authors":"Manuel M. Ramos-Álvarez, Teresa L. Martín-Guerrero, Juan M. Rosas","doi":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105552","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105552","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>The aim of this study was to examine the influence of feedback on the dynamics of sensory and decision processes in a tasting task involving mixtures of salty and sour basic tastes. The Double Dissociation Additive Test within the Signal Detection Theory framework was applied to assess the effects of manipulating intensity, signal-noise base rates, and feedback on sensitivity and decision-making processes. Participants' discrimination improved as salt concentration increased, regardless of induced bias or feedback presence; however, feedback led to a general increase in sensitivity. Both signal-noise stimulus base rates and feedback influenced the decision-making process. When feedback was present, detection judgments aligned more closely with actual signal-noise stimulus base rates. However, in the absence of feedback, the relationship between base rates and response bias reversed. Implications for research in sensory evaluation and perceptual learning are discussed.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":322,"journal":{"name":"Food Quality and Preference","volume":"130 ","pages":"Article 105552"},"PeriodicalIF":4.9,"publicationDate":"2025-04-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143855653","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"农林科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}