Abstract
Currently little is known about how the non-edible items associated with eating and drinking (tableware items such as the plates, bowls, cutlery, glasses, bottles, condiment containers, etc.), or even environmental factors (such as the lighting and/or background music), affect people’s perception of foodstuffs. Here, we review the latest evidence demonstrating the importance of these contextual variables on the consumer’s behavioural and hedonic response to, and sensory perception of, a variety of food and drink items. These effects are explained by a combination of psychological factors (high level attributes, such as perceived quality, that may be mediating the effects under consideration), perceptual factors (such as the Ebbinghaus-Titchener size-contrast illusion and colour contrast in the case of the colour of the plateware affecting taste/flavour perception), and physiological-chemical factors (such as differences in the release of volatile organic compounds from differently-shaped wine glasses). Together, these factors help to explain the growing body of evidence demonstrating that both the tableware and the environment can have a profound effect on our perception of food and drink.
Highlights
Little is known about how the non-edible items associated with eating and drinking, or even environmental factors, affect people’s perception of foodstuffs
While a number of recent studies have highlighted the importance of atmospheric/environmental cues in determining what, how much, and how quickly, we eat and drink, and even how much we report liking the experience ([3,4]; for reviews, see [5,6]), far less research has studied the role of the tableware on eating, drinking, and flavour perception
Though, the range of materials used for cutlery is much narrower, mainly limited to stainless steel, silver, plastic, or wood
Summary
The results of the research outlined here clearly demonstrate that the tableware, and the other non-consumable elements of the table setting, can all exert a significant effect on our perception of, and behaviour toward, food and drink. There is some evidence for physiological/chemical changes to the food and drinks as a result of the shape or material of the tableware. There is evidence for effects of tableware and accessories on eating and drinking which probably reflect a combination of perceptual illusions, psycholinguistic and sensation transference effects, and physiological/chemical phenomena. It seems, reasonable to suggest that both the food industry and home-dining should pay far more attention to the tableware and atmosphere in order to maximize the dining experience.
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