Crossmodal Correspondence between Color, Shapes, and Wine Odors

Abstract

Crossmodal correspondence is of scientific and commercial interest in regard to the packaging of food and beverages. Research has shown that colors and shapes can be associated with certain aromas, but these interactions have been less extensively studied with authentic visual stimuli (i.e., packaging), nor with complex odors in a food matrix. This study sought to investigate odor-color-shape crossmodal interactions with complex odor stimuli (wine odors) and wine labels. The present research uses projective mapping with 3D shapes and colors, along with a wine label matching study, to test whether chardonnay odors of different character (buttery, citrus, floral, smoky, and vegetable) are associated with certain colors and shapes. In the projective mapping experiment, most chardonnay odors were grouped similarly, however, the vegetable-forward wine was more associated with sharper shapes than rounded ones. In the wine label experiment, the yellow labels tended to be better matched with all odors, except the vegetable-forward wine, which was matched equally to all colors. These findings indicate that regardless of chardonnay odor character, it is mostly associated with a yellow colored label. Interestingly, results also indicated that not all correspondences aligned with the most common color association of an odor character (i.e., vegetative was not strictly associated with green, smoky was not associated with brown, etc.). Significant correlations between stimuli liking and matching scores indicate much of the correspondences are explained by hedonics. Overall, the present research demonstrates evidence for odor-color-shape correspondences in complex odors and realistic visual stimuli, however not as strongly as in controlled environments and simplistic stimuli.

Olfactory-colour crossmodal correspondences in art, science, and design

“…Nevertheless, there is growing commercial interest in capitalising on the correspondences in order to more effectively convey the olfactory/flavour attributes of products by means of the use of colour, shape, and other cues (e.g. Adams & Doucé, 2017 ; de Sousa, Carvalho, & Pereira, in press ; Heatherly et al, 2019 ; Lick, König, Kpossa, & Buller, 2017 ; Lunardo & Livat, 2016 ; Sugrue & Dando, 2018 ). However, as we have just seen, as soon as colours and forms are combined in design practice, the focus of an observer’s attention may well switch to one of intramodal perceptual grouping/evaluation (see Spence, 2015b ).…”

“…Heatherly et al ( 2019 ) recently presented 50 North American participants with five odorants relevant to a chardonnay white wine, namely buttery, citrus, floral, smoky, and vegetable-forward (bell pepper). In an initial projective mapping study, the participants had to match each odorant (sniffed in the headspace over a glass of chardonnay wine to which the odorant had been added) with one of four colours (yellow, red, green, and brown).…”

“…3 Wine labels affixed to wine bottles (comprising 2 levels of angularity – rounded and sharp) as well as four colours (red, brown, yellow, and green). Heatherly et al ( 2019 ) assessed the orthonasal olfactory expectations set by these wine labels, (see online version for colour image) …”

“…Thereafter, in the following section, the scientific evidence concerning the odour-colour correspondences that have been documented in a non-food context is critically reviewed. In the penultimate section, I highlight the growing commercial interest that has emerged in the world of olfactory-visual crossmodal correspondences (Favre, 1968 ; Favre & November, 1979 ; Heatherly, Dein, Munafo, & Luckett, 2019 ; Kim, 2008 , 2013 ; Lunardo & Livat, 2016 ; Schifferstein & Howell, 2015 ). This recent wave of applied interest primarily revolves around the optimisation (in terms of maximising processing fluency) of marketing communications, by helping designers set the most appropriate odour expectations by means of their use of colour cues (see Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2015 , for a review).…”

Visual Design Cues Impacting Food Choice: A Review and Future Research Agenda

“…Vision interacts with input received from the haptic, auditory, olfactory and gustatory systems to make judgments [ 16 ]. Recently several authors focused on the effects of cross modal correspondence [ 170 , 338 , 339 ] for reviews see for example [ 340 , 341 ] or the association of information from one sensory feature with another sensory feature from a different sensory modality [ 166 ]. When sensory dimensions are combined, cross modal correspondences are acquired [ 166 ].…”