Sweeter together? Assessing the combined influence of product-related and contextual factors on perceived sweetness of fruit beverages

It is well-known that multiple sensory cues influence flavour perception and liking. The present study aimed to combine and compare the relative influences of product-related and contextual factors on taste perception and liking, with a focus on the perception of sweetness. Participants tasted samples of the same base fruit beverage with one of three different levels of added aroma, while the contextual cues (either visual or auditory) were displayed simultaneously using iPads. The results revealed that both added aroma and background music significantly influenced participants’ sweetness ratings, with a medium level of added aroma enhancing sweetness significantly as compared to no added aroma, and with the sweet-congruent soundtrack enhancing perceived sweetness significantly as compared to the bitter-congruent soundtrack. Moreover, there was a potentially additive effect from the combination of aroma and soundtrack. These results are discussed in terms of potential mechanisms underlying multisensory flavour perception