Cross-Modal Correspondences Between Temperature and Taste Attributes

Abstract

Temperature is an important characteristic of food and drink. In addition to foodintrinsic temperature (i.e., serving temperature), consumers often experience foodextrinsic temperature (e.g., physical warmth). Emerging research on cross-modal correspondence has revealed that people reliably associate temperature with other sensory features. Building on the literature on cross-modal correspondence and sensation transference theory, the present study aimed to reveal mental representations of temperature-taste correspondence and cross-modal mental representations influencing corresponding sensory/hedonic perceptions of beverages, with a focus on manipulating food-extrinsic warmth. To reveal mental representations of temperaturetaste correspondence, Experiment 1 investigated whether temperature words (warm, cool) are associated with sensory/hedonic attributes (e.g., sweet, sour, salty, bitter). The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that warm (vs. cool) was matched more with saltiness, tastiness, healthfulness, and preference (intention to buy), whereas cool (vs. warm) was matched more with sourness and freshness. Experiment 2 assessed whether cross-modal mental representations influence corresponding sensory/hedonic perceptions of beverages. The participants wore hot and cold pads and rated sensory/hedonic attributes of Japanese tea (Experiment 2a) or black coffee (Experiment 2b) before and after tasting it. The results of Experiment 2a demonstrated that physical warmth (vs. coldness) increased healthfulness and the intention to buy Japanese tea. The results of Experiment 2b did not reveal any effects of physical warmth on sensory/hedonic ratings. These findings provide evidence of taste-temperature correspondence and provide preliminary support for the influence of food-extrinsic warmth on taste attributes related to positivity.

Need to warm up! Ambient coldness increases vice inclinations

“…First, the temperature in the current research was generally in the comfortable range; however, research showed that thermal comfort (comfortable vs. uncomfortable) would interact with ambient temperature in influencing people's behaviors (Motoki, Saito, Nouchi, Kawashima, & Sugiura, 2019; Motoki, Saito, Nouchi, & Sugiura, 2020). Future research could investigate temperature across a wider spectrum (i.e., both comfortable and uncomfortable temperature range) to detect whether the effect will change when the temperature is uncomfortable.…”

“…First, the temperature in the current research was generally in the comfortable range; however, research showed that thermal comfort (comfortable vs. uncomfortable) would interact with ambient temperature in influencing people's behaviors (Motoki, Saito, Nouchi, Kawashima, & Sugiura, 2019;Motoki, Saito, Nouchi, & Sugiura, 2020).…”

Effects of Acute Heat and Cold Exposures at Rest or during Exercise on Subsequent Energy Intake: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Energy intake was measured by the same gold-standard procedure (weighing of the consumed foods) in all the included studies, but the food selected and the timing, number, and nature of the meals (buffet or meals with less than three items) varied considerably between the studies included. Moreover, temperature of the items served may jeopardize the relationships between palatability, thermal comfort, and body temperature potentially affecting intake [40][41][42][43]. However, the range of temperatures was large (cold, warm, and/or room temperature) and often weakly reported.…”

Smelling speech sounds: Association of odors with texture‐related ideophones

“…offered as one of the explanatory mechanisms behind the phenomenon (Kantono et al, 2016;Motoki et al, 2020b;Motoki, Saito, Nouchi, & Sugiura, 2020a;Motoki & Velasco, 2021;Reinoso-Carvalho, Dakduk, Wagemans, & Spence, 2019;Spence, 2020aSpence, , 2020bVelasco, Woods, Deroy, & Spence, 2015;Wang & Spence, 2017;Wang, Wang, & Spence, 2016). People tend to associate round shapes with sweetness and pleasant or calming feelings (or meanings) (Motoki & Velasco, 2021).…”