Blending Emotions and Cross-Modality in Sonic Seasoning: Towards Greater Applicability in the Design of Multisensory Food Experiences.

Felipe Reinoso-Carvalho,Enrique Ter Horst,Charles Spence,Laura H Gunn

doi:10.3390/foods9121876

Abstract

Sonic seasoning refers to the way in which music can influence multisensory tasting experiences. To date, the majority of the research on sonic seasoning has been conducted in Europe or the USA, typically in a within-participants experimental context. In the present study, we assessed the applicability of sonic seasoning in a large-scale between-participants setting in Asia. A sample of 1611 participants tasted one sample of chocolate while listening to a song that evoked a specific combination of cross-modal and emotional consequences. The results revealed that the music’s emotional character had a more prominent effect than its cross-modally corresponding attributes on the multisensory tasting experience. Participants expressed a higher buying intention for the chocolate and rated it as having a softer texture when listening to mainly positive (as compared to mainly negative) music. The chocolates were rated as having a more intense flavor amongst those participants listening to ‘softer’ as compared to ‘harder’ music. Therefore, the present study demonstrates that music is capable of triggering a combination of specific cross-modal and emotional effects in the multisensory tasting experience of a chocolate.

Highlights

Sonic seasoning refers to music or soundscapes that have been selected, or else deliberately produced, in order to trigger specific effects on the multisensory tasting experience [1,2,3,4]
The participants tasted a single piece of milk or dark chocolate while listening to one of four songs from two pairs of pre-existing primarily emotional or cross-modally corresponding music, depending on the condition to which they were randomly assigned during the experiment
They had to answer a survey related to their chocolate experience while listening to the music (“how much they liked the flavor of the chocolate”, “how much they thought the music matched the flavor of the chocolate”, the sweetness/bitterness/flavor-strength/texture of the chocolate, “how much they liked the music that they were listening to while tasting the chocolate”, their buying intention, and their willingness to pay (WTP) for the chocolate)

Summary

Introduction

Sonic seasoning refers to music or soundscapes that have been selected, or else deliberately produced, in order to trigger specific effects on the multisensory tasting experience [1,2,3,4]. The approach derives from the framework of research on the cross-modal correspondences, which points to the majority of people tending to share systematic associations between features, attributes, or dimensions of experiences across the senses [5]. In this context, think, for example, of associating the high pitch of a sound with small size, or high elevation [6,7]. There may be several auditory features/dimensions that can be associated with elements from a wide range of possible tastes and flavors in a customized fashion Such multisensory customization potentially allows for the modulation or modification of the consumers’ experience of particular attributes of food and drink

Methods

Discussion

Conclusion