Explaining Visual Shape–Taste Crossmodal Correspondences

Abstract

A growing body of experimental research now demonstrates that neurologically normal individuals associate different taste qualities with design features such as curvature, symmetry, orientation, texture and movement. The form of everything from the food itself through to the curvature of the plateware on which it happens to be served, and from glassware to typeface, not to mention the shapes of/on food product packaging have all been shown to influence people’s taste expectations, and, on occasion, also their taste/food experiences. Although the origins of shape–taste and other form–taste crossmodal correspondences have yet to be fully worked out, it would appear that shape qualities are occasionally elicited directly. However, more often, there may be a metaphorical attempt to translate the temporal qualities of taste sensations into a spatial analogue. At the same time, emotional mediation may sometimes also play a role in the affinity people experience between shape properties and taste. And finally, it should be acknowledged that associative learning of the relation between packaging shapes, glassware shapes, logos, labels and iconic food forms that commonly co-occur with specific taste properties (i.e., in the case of branded food products) may also play an important role in determining the nature of shape–taste correspondences. Ultimately, however, any attempt to use such shape–taste correspondences to nudge people’s behaviour/perception in the real world is made challenging due to the fact that shape properties are associated with multiple qualities, and not just taste.

Combining typeface and color to prime specific taste expectations.

“…While the visual stimuli in this study were presented in isolation (i.e., the participants were not given any context about the stimuli), it is anticipated that the patterns of vision–taste crossmodal correspondences reported here can be translated to graphic elements in other contexts (Sugimori & Kawasaki, 2022; Van Doorn et al, 2017; Velasco, Michel, et al, 2016; Wan et al, 2014, 2016). There is a promising prospect that the effects observed in this study could extend to the interaction between color hues and simpler geometric shapes, especially given that the taste correspondences of shapes, similar to those of typefaces, are predominantly driven by the emotional mediation of curvilinearity properties (Spence, 2023; Velasco, Woods, Hyndman, & Spence, 2015; Q. J. Wang & Spence, 2018).…”

“…The two types of visual stimuli involved here, color hues and typeface curvilinearity, are proposed to have different underlying mechanisms for their association with taste qualities. According to popular theories, color hues are associated with taste qualities based on the statistics of the environment that have been internalized in the mind of the observer (Barlow, 2001; Spence & Levitan, 2021), while curvilinearity properties may depend on the mediation of emotions (Spence, 2022b, 2023; Velasco, Woods, Deroy, & Spence, 2015). Although these theories on the acquisition of crossmodal correspondences have been reasonably supported by the empirical evidence that has been published to date (Salgado-Montejo et al, 2015; Shankar et al, 2010; Velasco, Woods, Deroy, & Spence, 2015), their combined operation, such as in a paradigm presented here, has rarely been explored.…”

“…This concern thus warrants a brief discussion on the principles that motivate or guide people to make the associations documented between visual features and taste qualities. Recent reviews on the origins of crossmodal correspondences between visual features and taste qualities suggest that people appear to rely on the experiences and beliefs acquired from the general environment to decide on color-taste associations (Barlow, 2001;Spence, 2022a;Spence & Levitan, 2021), while drawing reference from the valence value of shape properties and taste qualities to accordingly match the associations between curvilinearity and taste (Schifferstein & Tanudjaja, 2004;Spence, 2022bSpence, , 2023; Q. J. Wang et al, 2016).…”

Crossmodal correspondences between visual features and tastes in preschoolers: an exploratory study

“…A developmental shift in shape–taste correspondence may occur from preschoolers to adults, whereby the association between salty taste and triangles shifts to sour taste and triangles. Several mechanisms have been proposed to account for the development of shape–taste correspondences, including shape–taste experiences [e.g., sweet candies being typically round in shape; Spence, 2023 ; see also Speed et al (2021) ‘s notion on the perspective of odor–shape association] and emotional mediation (e.g., the association between sweet taste and roundness owing to their positive valence; Blazhenkova and Kumar, 2018 ). Future research should investigate the potential role of these mechanisms in shaping shape–taste correspondences in children.…”

“…These findings and considerations suggest that alternative mechanisms for the acquisition of color–taste correspondence in children must be considered. One such mechanism may be emotional or hedonic associations, as previous research has shown that bitter taste is generally disliked or associated with danger ( Higgins and Hayes, 2019 ; Spence, 2023 ). Additionally, black is the least favorite color of children and elicits negative emotions ( Boyatzis and Varghese, 1994 ; Koleoso et al, 2014 ).…”