Cross-cultural colour–odour associations

Abstract

Associations between colour and odour are likely culturally specific. Exposure to a new culture’s cuisine and food customs however may alter these associations. Here we test for cultural colour–odour association differences and whether exposure to a new culture impacts upon these associations. Participants were given 14 odours and choose from a chart of 36 randomly presented colours which of 3 colours they most associated with each odorant, and which of 3 colours was least associated with each. Data collection was done on Android and Apple iPod devices using Xperiment software (see www.xperiment.mobi). In the first study, we tested equal numbers of Dutch and Chinese participants living in the Netherlands (n = 20 per group). In the second study we tested equal numbers of Malay and Malaysian-Chinese participants living in Malaysia (n = 20 per group). Preliminary results indeed indicate that the cultures in both studies did differ from each other in terms of colour–odour pairings. Further analyses are ongoing.