L'interaction odeur‐goût et ses effets marketing sur la perception et la consommation des produits diététiques

Abstract

The interaction between smell and taste has been widely confirmed in the literature. Exposure to a congruent olfactory stimulus enhances taste, increases palatability and the desire to eat, and promotes food consumption. In this paper, we use laboratory experiments to show that, in addition to its role in taste enhancement, olfaction also plays a role in taste induction. Using the phenomena of cognitive sensory integration and mental imagery, we explain how exposure to a real odor congruent with the expected taste produces a taste sensation for which there is no real taste stimulus. For example, exposure to the smell of vanillin, which is a sugar‐congruent odor, creates a taste sensation of sweetness, increases palatability and food cravings, and increases consumption of sugar‐free biscuits. The lack of exposure to the actual taste stimulus of sugar does not prevent the taste‐congruent odor from creating a taste sensation of sweetness, an olfactory sweetness. Odors are able to induce a taste sensation for which there is no real taste stimulus. The results of this research have implications for the marketing of dietary foods. Tastefulness, which is reduced by the absence of flavor, can be increased by congruent olfactory stimuli in the environment and have a positive effect on the sales of this product category.