The Disentangled Sub-Processes Involved in Implied Motion Contributing to Food Freshness: The Neural Evidence from ERPs

Abstract

Food freshness is an important attribute in judgments of food quality (Curtis & Cowee, 2009). Various food properties, such as flavor, color, odor, and texture, are conventional indicators of food freshness (e.g., Fortin, Goodwin, Thomsen, 2009; Lewis 2002). Based on empirical evidence, motion information contained in images not only conveys crucial information for our survival (Blake & Shiffrar, 2007; Rizzolatti & Sinigaglia, 2010) but also serves as a good indicator of food freshness. Depictions of food with motion (either through live viewing or video) lead to enhanced evaluations of both food freshness and appeal in multiple food domains, categories, and textures (Awad, Moharram,

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

“…It broadly refers to the dynamic information extracted from static stimuli or pictures [ 314 ]. Within the context of food marketing ‘Implied motion’ is crucial [ 315 ]. An example of implied motion is a photograph that shows juice being poured into a glass, whereas a static photograph shows the same juice motionless in a glass.…”

“…People perceive both solid, liquid, natural and artificial food presented with implied motion as more fresh and, therefore, also as more tastier than food presented without implied emotion [ 32 , 316 ]. Even static fruit presented in moving water was rated as more fresh [ 315 ].…”