Lunch melodies: Investigating the impact of music on emotions, hunger, liking, and psychophysiology while viewing a lunch meal

Abstract

Sensory cues like music can influence our behaviour towards food. In the present study, the effect of music on hunger, fullness, desire to eat and liking of foods, while viewing real lunch food items, was investigated. To this end, emotions and physiological measures were obtained to understand the changes in hunger, fullness, desire to eat and liking. The study aimed to examine changes in hunger, fullness, desire to eat, and liking when viewing a lunch meal under silent and varying music conditions. Additionally, the study explored the potential role of emotions to explain these changes. A crossover experimental design was employed using 50 participants (17 males and 33 females) who observed lunch food items during a silent condition (control), or while listening to either liked or disliked music. The findings demonstrate the cross-modal influence of music on hunger and food liking ratings when viewing food. Hunger ratings were higher and more negative emotions were evoked while viewing lunch food items and listening to disliked music. In contrast, in the silent and liked music conditions, which elicited more positive emotions, there were increased ratings of healthy and unhealthy food pleasantness, overall food liking, and food satisfaction. Electrophysiological measures of heart rate (HR) and skin conductance (SC) were obtained while listening to music and viewing a lunch meal. Viewing food items while listening to disliked music evoked negative emotions and significantly increased SC compared to liked music or silent conditions. Viewing the food items under the silent condition evoked positive emotions and significantly increased HR compared to listening to liked and disliked music. This study showed that the participants’ emotions, hunger level, liking, and electrophysiological responses when viewing food are influenced by music that varied with liking. Results from this study may assist in enhancing dining experiences, as well as influencing food choices and satisfaction with meals.