Tell me what you imagine and I will tell you what you want: The effects of mental simulation on desire and food choice

Many people struggle with the classical choice of eating a mouth-watering snack versus a healthier product. One of the reasons behind this is that unhealthier products are appealing for their direct gratification; they deliver pleasure. The present research investigates the effect of mental simulation as a relatively new strategy to possibly shift the balance between direct gratification and the consideration of longer-term benefits necessary to make healthier choices. Specifically we distinguish between imagining the consumption process versus the outcome of eating a specific product, hereafter referred to as mental simulations. In two studies, we show that participants under process simulation, i.e., imagining the process of eating, had a higher desire for the imagined product compared to a control condition, but in a choice task between a healthy and an unhealthier product, more people chose the unhealthier product over the healthier one. On the other hand, outcome simulation, i.e., imagining the outcome of eating, also generated a higher desire for the imagined product, but in this case people chose the healthier option. In terms of underlying process, we explored the role of valence of the imagined experience on desire for the imagined product. This is the first study giving insights into the processes that could be behind the impact of mental simulation on desire and food choices. Although the results are not conclusive, we propose that further research in attentional biases, and possibly emotional activation could enlighten the effect of mental simulation in food desires and choice between healthy and unhealthy alternatives.</p

Heart rate and skin conductance responses to taste, taste novelty, and the (dis)confirmation of expectations

It is unclear whether the responses of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) can measure how people respond to food. Results focused on emotional responses are contradictory; therefore, the focus has shifted to other components of emotion, such as appraisals. The aim of this study was, therefore, to evaluate the differences in ANS responses related to appraisals; particularly taste novelty, valence, and the disconfirmation of expectations.A hundred and fifty-five participants joined this study. They tasted samples of different valence (sweet and bitter) twice: the first time without knowing the taste and the second while being informed of the taste. After this first block, participants tasted two additional samples: one that confirmed expectations and one that disconfirmed them. Heart rate and skin conductance were measured. Results show that the second experience with a taste led to cardiac deceleration. Heart rate changes were only related to valence when participants' expectations were (dis)confirmed. Heart rate decreased for those tastes that disconfirmed expectations and increased for those that confirmed them and the sweet sample had larger increases in heart rate than the bitter. Skin conductance changed in regards to novelty and valence but not to the disconfirmation of expectations. It increased for the bitter sample, decreased for the sweet, and was always higher during the first experience than during the second. In conclusion, the results suggest that cardiac responses are more sensitive to novelty and the disconfirmation of expectations while skin conductance responses capture novelty and valence

Oral processing behavior of drinkable, spoonable and chewable foods is primarily determined by rheological and mechanical food properties

Food oral processing plays a key role in sensory perception, consumer acceptance and food intake. However, little is known about the influence of physical food properties on oral processing of different type of food products. The primary objective of this study was to determine the influence of rheological and mechanical properties of foods on oral processing behavior of liquid (drinkable), semi-solid (spoonable) and solid foods (chewable). The secondary objective was to quantify the influence of product liking, frequency of consumption and familiarity on oral processing behavior. Rheological and mechanical properties of 18 commercially available foods were quantified. Parameters describing oral processing behavior such as sip and bite size, consumption time, eating rate, number of swallows, number of chews, cycle duration, and chewing rate were extracted from video recordings of 61 consumers. Subjects evaluated products’ liking, familiarity, and frequency of consumption using questionnaires. Consumers strongly adapted oral processing behavior with respect to bite size, consumption time, and eating rate to the rheological and mechanical properties of liquid, semi-solid and solid foods. This adaptation was observed within each food category. Chewing rate and chewing cycle duration of solid foods were not influenced by mechanical properties and remained relatively constant. Liking, familiarity, and consumption frequency showed to impact oral processing behavior, although to a lower degree than the rheological and mechanical properties of food. We conclude that the oral processing behaviors of liquid, semi-solid and solid foods are mainly determined by their rheological and mechanical properties.</p

More than meets the mouth: Assessing the impact of the extrinsic factors on the multisensory perception of food products

En un contexto dado, nuestra percepción de un estímulo (en el presente marco, un producto alimenticio) se ve afectada, en primer lugar, por sus diversas propiedades sensoriales (extrínsecas e intrínsecas). Las características intrínsecas de un alimento (por ejemplo su sabor, olor, color, textura, emisión de sonido al romperse, etc.) obviamente desempañan un papel esencial en su evaluación por parte de los consumidores. Sin embargo, el impacto que puede llegar a producir tanto los envases como la cubertería o vajilla empleada en la evaluación de un alimento, a un nivel tanto sensorial como afectivo, ha sido poco explorado desde un enfoque multisensorial. La presente tesis tiene como finalidad investigar cómo los distintos sentidos interactúan durante el consumo de un alimento o bebida, y más precisamente, cómo la información sensorial que recibimos a través de los elementos externos al alimento influye en nuestra percepción gustativa y hedónica del mismo. Cada estudio comprendido en la tesis explora nuestra percepción multisensorial de los alimentos analizando la interacción entre distintas modalidades principalmente entre la visión, el tacto y el gusto que intervienen en el proceso. Para ello se han empleado diversas técnicas provenientes de disciplinas como la psicofísica, sociología, ciencia sensorial y marketing (por ejemplo, tarea de asociaciones implícitas (IAT), asociación libre de palabras, distintos tipos de cuestionarios, etc.). Los resultados obtenidos se explican en un marco interdisciplinar, combinando conocimientos y teorías de áreas como la psicología perceptiva, la ciencia sensorial, la investigación con consumidores, y el diseño. En conjunto, los resultados demuestran la complejidad de la percepción multisensorial de un alimento (junto con los elementos que lo acompañan durante el consumo), así como la de su medida e interpretación. Esta tesis doctoral se ha elaborado de acuerdo con los requisitos establecidos por la UPV.Piqueras Fiszman, B. (2012). More than meets the mouth: Assessing the impact of the extrinsic factors on the multisensory perception of food products [Tesis doctoral no publicada]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/18104Palanci

Color, flavor, and haptic influences on satiety

This chapter presents an overview of the latest evidence regarding the role of multisensory integration in food perception and satiety. It summarizes the existing evidence of mainly two types of exteroceptive cues on food perception and intake: colour (variety) and haptic information (weight). The chapter demonstrates how important each of these senses (e.g. vision and touch) is to the overall food experience. It outlines the main theories of the interacting mechanisms that explain how variety in food affects consumption. The chapter describes the effect of colour on sensory‐specific satiety (SSS), the impact of colour monotony on intake, and the effect of the display and number of colours on consumption. It also describes the fewer accounts on the effect of haptic cues (what we perceive through the hands) on food perception, expected satiety, and fullness

How Does the Science of Physical and Sensory Properties Contribute to Gastronomy and Culinary Art?

What occurs in a physical properties and sensory research laboratory is relevant to food developers, chefs, and others working in the hospitality/culinary sector as well as to any curious food lover. Thanks to the contributions of science, the latest food innovations are percolating through to the dining rooms of restaurant managers who want to improve the consumption experience. However, scientific developments and findings are not limited to the food revolution itself. New methods are being applied to understand consumers better and convey correct messages successfully. Contextual factors are also being taken into account when studying consumer perceptions. Taken together, if managed appropriately in a restaurant setting, these insights can enhance the gastronomic experience.The authors are grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for financial support (AGL2009-12785-C02-01) for the contract awarded to the author Paula Varela (Juan de la Cierva Program) and to the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science for the grant awarded to Betina Piqueras-Fiszman

DO THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF CUTLERY AFFECT THE PERCEPTION OF THE FOOD YOU EAT? AN EXPLORATORY STUDY

Our perception of food depends both on the contextual conditions in which it is presented and on the way the food is consumed; hence, the current trend toward investigating these contextual variables in empirical research. In most meal situations, people interact with the food that they consume by means of a variety of accessories, such as dishes and cutlery that fulfill the consumers' functional requirements. However, despite the important role that these accessory stimuli play during the consumption of food, little research has been carried out in order to investigate how they may affect food perception. The present preliminary study was therefore undertaken in order to explore how the cutlery, specifically two teaspoons (a plastic one with metallic finish and a stainless steel one), affected consumers' sensory and hedonic perception of yoghurt. Consumers' quality and liking judgments concerning identical yoghurt samples differed significantly when tasted either with a metallic plastic spoon or else with a stainless steel spoon, the latter resulting in significantly higher scores. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: These results contribute to our knowledge of how contextual variables affect a consumer's perception of food. These findings open up new research directions emphasizing the potential importance of the properties of cutlery and its influence on consumers' perception of food. These results are relevant to product development and to caterers and restaurateurs because different dishes (i.e., foodstuffs/flavors) could be matched with different types of cutlery in order to increase convenience and, at the same, time potentially enhance the consumers' eating experience. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.The authors would like to thank the Ministerio de Educacion (Spain) and the Universitat Politecnica de Valencia for the scholarships awarded to Betina Piqueras-Fiszman.Piqueras Fiszman, B.; Spence, C. (2011). DO THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES OF CUTLERY AFFECT THE PERCEPTION OF THE FOOD YOU EAT? AN EXPLORATORY STUDY. Journal of Sensory Studies. 26(5):358-362. doi:10.1111/j.1745-459X.2011.00351.xS35836226

The influence of the feel of product packaging on the perception of the oral-somatosensory texture of food

Most of the published research on the perception of food texture has focused on what happens in-mouth during consumption. It is, however, important to note that people's judgments of food texture can also be influenced by other sensory cues, such as haptic input, be it their direct contact with the food, or possibly also their indirect contact with the product packaging as well. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether changing the surface texture of the product packaging would affect people's perception of the product contained within-that is, we wanted to know whether the feel of the packaging held in a consumer's hand would influence the perceived texture of the food. Participants tasted biscuits and yoghurt samples from pots (yoghurt containers) that varied in terms of their surface texture (rough/granular vs. smooth). Additionally, the foodstuffs also varied in terms of their texture (crunchiness and thickness, respectively). In a 2. ×. 2 experimental design, the participants assessed the texture of the foodstuff and their liking for it while holding the pot in their non-dominant hand. The results revealed that the texture of the container influenced participants' ratings of certain of the texture attributes being assessed, namely the most related ones. These findings shed light on the importance of nondiagnostic haptic cues (defined as those that objectively should not identify or prompt any effect) in the perception of food. These results, explained in terms of sensation transference, could have important implications for the food packaging and hospitality sectors. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd.Thanks to the Ministerio de Educacion (Spain) for the FPU scholarship awarded to B. P-F.Piqueras Fiszman, B.; Spence, C. (2012). The influence of the feel of product packaging on the perception of the oral-somatosensory texture of food. Food Quality and Preference. 26(1):67-73. doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2012.04.002S677326

Evoked Consumption Context Matters in Food-Related Consumer Affective Research

In this chapter we provide a brief overview of the research using scenarios to evoke context in affective (specifically emotion) research within the field of Sensory and Consumer Science. We then present two case studies that extend previously used scenarios and their application to other affective variables, such as consumption enjoyment. We demonstrate that consumers are capable of using scenarios to evoke complex situations, which involve not only environmental or temporal factors but also behaviors. The potential that these strategies have are then discussed and their advantages and limitations to other approaches such as virtual reality compared. We conclude that the underlying success factor of means of context evocation lies in the familiarity and appropriateness of the imagined situation, which becomes most relevant when collecting affective data in laboratory settings

Consumers’ perception of cultured meat relative to other meat alternatives and meat itself : A segmentation study

Abstract: Cultured meat is still under development but could possibly serve as a meat alternative. As a result, the acceptance and perception of cultured meat have received considerable attention in consumer research. However, only few comparisons to meat or meat alternatives have been made, which makes it unclear how cultured meat compares to these products. This is the first study to directly compare cultured meat to plant-based meat alternatives (PBMA), fish, insects, and conventional meat. Dutch consumers (n = 288) evaluated their perception and willingness to consume (WTC) patties made from the five sources listed above. Consumer segmentation based on the WTC ratings was performed, and the resulting clusters were compared in terms of their preferences, perception of cultured meat, and demographic and psychographic variables. To see if naming affected consumers’ cultured meat perception, respondents were assigned to one of five naming conditions for cultured meat. The clusters analysis yielded three clusters, two of which showed moderate WTC cultured meat. The first cluster could be characterized as “meat lovers.” Their WTC was strongest for conventional meat, followed by cultured meat, and tastiness was their main driver of WTC. The second cluster's preference was fish, followed by PBMA, with naturalness, safety, and tastiness being their drivers of WTC. The third cluster's highest WTC was for PBMA, followed by cultured meat. Among their drivers of WTC were healthiness, sustainability, and animal friendliness. Psychographic variables were highly valuable in explaining the clusters. Finally, no effects of naming for cultured meat were observed. Practical Application: The results contribute to the design of guidelines to promote different meat alternatives considering specific target populations