Extraordinary emotional responses elicited by auditory stimuli linked to the consumption of food and drink

Spence, Charles

doi:10.1250/ast.41.28

Cited by 17 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 54 publications

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“…As will be highlighted below, each one of the various approaches to sonic seasoning has their respective strengths and weaknesses in terms of the efficiency, cost of development/implementation, etc. Taken together, the various examples reviewed here help to illustrate the growing commercial relevance of, and interest in, sonic seasoning research (see also Mickiewicz, 2014 ; Roncero-Menendez, 2015 ; Spence, 2020a ; Spence et al, 2021 ; Wang et al, 2019c ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

“…Going beyond merely modifying a specific element in the multisensory tasting experience (drawing a taster’s attention to it by listening to the appropriate sonic elements, see Spence, 2019a ), there is a suggestion that when the crossmodal stimulus combination works especially well, it may result in the emergence of extraordinary tasting experiences ( Holt-Hansen, 1976 ; Spence, 2020a , b ), some explicitly elicited by the sonic ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response; cf. Anon, 2017 ; Barratt et al, 2017 ; Hopkins, 2017 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Commercializing Sonic Seasoning in Multisensory Offline Experiential Events and Online Tasting Experiences

et al. 2021

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The term “sonic seasoning” refers to the deliberate pairing of sound/music with taste/flavour in order to enhance, or modify, the multisensory tasting experience. Although the recognition that people experience a multitude of crossmodal correspondences between stimuli in the auditory and chemical senses originally emerged from the psychophysics laboratory, the last decade has seen an explosion of interest in the use and application of sonic seasoning research findings, in a range of multisensory experiential events and online offerings. These marketing-led activations have included a variety of different approaches, from curating pre-composed music selections that have the appropriate sonic qualities (such as pitch or timbre), to the composition of bespoke music/soundscapes that match the specific taste/flavour of particular food or beverage products. Moreover, given that our experience of flavour often changes over time and frequently contains multiple distinct elements, there is also scope to more closely match the sonic seasoning to the temporal evolution of the various components (or notes) of the flavour experience. We review a number of case studies of the use of sonic seasoning, highlighting some of the challenges and opportunities associated with the various approaches, and consider the intriguing interplay between physical and digital (online) experiences. Taken together, the various examples reviewed here help to illustrate the growing commercial relevance of sonic seasoning research.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Commercializing Sonic Seasoning in Multisensory Offline Experiential Events and Online Tasting Experiences

et al. 2021

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“…Finally here, it is interesting to note that there is growing interest not just in modifying taster's ratings of food and beverage, such as, for example, fruitiness, acidity, or sweetness, but in actually delivering extraordinary tasting experiences that are somehow more (or greater) than the sum of their parts [167,168]. There have, for instance, been occasional reports of people being brought to tears by the combination of wine and purposely-composed matching music [169].…”

Section: Why Bother Pairing Music/soundscapes With Food/beverage Stimmentioning

confidence: 99%

Multisensory Flavour Perception: Blending, Mixing, Fusion, and Pairing within and between the Senses

Spence

2020

Foods

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This review summarizes the various outcomes that may occur when two or more elements are paired in the context of flavour perception. In the first part, I review the literature concerning what happens when flavours, ingredients, and/or culinary techniques are deliberately combined in a dish, drink, or food product. Sometimes the result is fusion but, if one is not careful, the result can equally well be confusion instead. In fact, blending, mixing, fusion, and flavour pairing all provide relevant examples of how the elements in a carefully-crafted multi-element tasting experience may be combined. While the aim is sometimes to obscure the relative contributions of the various elements to the mix (as in the case of blending), at other times, consumers/tasters are explicitly encouraged to contemplate/perceive the nature of the relationship between the contributing elements instead (e.g., as in the case of flavour pairing). There has been a noticeable surge in both popular and commercial interest in fusion foods and flavour pairing in recent years, and various of the ‘rules’ that have been put forward to help explain the successful combination of the elements in such food and/or beverage experiences are discussed. In the second part of the review, I examine the pairing of flavour stimuli with music/soundscapes, in the emerging field of ‘sonic seasoning’. I suggest that the various perceptual pairing principles/outcomes identified when flavours are paired deliberately can also be meaningfully extended to provide a coherent framework when it comes to categorizing the ways in which what we hear can influence our flavour experiences, both in terms of the sensory-discriminative and hedonic response.

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“…Finally here, it is interesting to note that there is growing interest not just in modifying tasters' ratings of wine attributes such as fruitiness, acidity, or sweetness, but in actually delivering extraordinary tasting experiences that are somehow more (or greater) than the sum of their parts (Spence, 2020a; see also Mitchell et al, 2017). There have, for instance, been occasional reports of people being brought to tears by the combination of wine and purposely composed matching music (e.g., Knapton, 2015).…”

Section: Extraordinary Wine-tasting Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Elsewhere, one finds descriptions such as the following from James John, Director of the Bath Wine School, talking about tasting Chardonnay while listening to Mozart's Laudate Dominum: "[…] Just as the sonant complexity is doubled, the gustatory effects of ripe fruit on toasted vanilla explode on the palate and the appreciation of both is taken to an entirely new level" (quoted in Sachse-Weinert, 2012). The possibility of delivering such extraordinary multisensory tasting experiences by carefully combining music and wine tasting providing one answer to the refrain that is sometimes heard (especially, it would seem, from Masters of Wine) concerning why one should bother with changing the taste of wine via musical accompaniment when one could just pick a different wine in the first place (e.g., Spence, 2020a;Spence & Wang, 2015c).…”

Section: Extraordinary Wine-tasting Experiencesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wine psychology: basic & applied

Spence

2020

Cogn. Research

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Basic cognitive research can help to explain our response to wine, and the myriad factors that affect it. Wine is a complex, culture-laden, multisensory stimulus, and our perception/experience of its properties is influenced by everything from the packaging in which it is presented through the glassware in which it is served and evaluated. A growing body of experiential wine research now demonstrates that a number of contextual factors, including everything from the colour of the ambient lighting through to background music can exert a profound, and in some cases predictable, influence over the tasting experience. Sonic seasoning-that is, the matching of music or soundscapes with specific wines in order to accentuate or draw attention to certain qualities/attributes in the wine, such as sweetness, length, or body, also represents a rapidly growing area of empirical study. While such multisensory, experiential wine research undoubtedly has a number of practical applications, it also provides insights concerning multisensory perception that are relevant to basic scientists. Furthermore, the findings of the wine research are also often relevant to those marketers interested in understanding how the consumers' perception of any other food or beverage product can potentially be modified.

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Extraordinary emotional responses elicited by auditory stimuli linked to the consumption of food and drink

Cited by 17 publications

References 54 publications

Commercializing Sonic Seasoning in Multisensory Offline Experiential Events and Online Tasting Experiences

Commercializing Sonic Seasoning in Multisensory Offline Experiential Events and Online Tasting Experiences

Multisensory Flavour Perception: Blending, Mixing, Fusion, and Pairing within and between the Senses

Wine psychology: basic & applied

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