TY - JOUR

T1 - Imagined eating – An investigation of priming and sensory-specific satiety

AU - Andersen, T.

AU - Byrne, D. V.

AU - Wang, Q. J.

N1 - Funding Information: This research project ( PN : 32764 ) was supported by the Graduate School of Technical Sciences, Aarhus University (GSTS) , the Sino-Danish Center of Education and Research (SDC) , and Aarhus University's Center for Innovative Food Research (CiFOOD) . Funding sources were not involved in any part of the research or publication process. Publisher Copyright: © 2022 The Authors

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - While obesity remains a pressing issue, the wider population continues to be exposed to more digital food content than ever before. Much research has demonstrated the priming effect of visual food content, i.e., exposure to food cues increasing appetite and food intake. In contrast, some recent research points out that repeated imagined consumption can facilitate satiate and decrease food intake. Such findings have been suggested as potential remedies to excessive food cue exposure. However, the practically limitless variety of digital food content available today may undermine satiation attempts. The present work aims to replicate and extend prior findings by introducing a within-subjects baseline comparison, disentangling general and (sensory-) specific eating desires, as well as considering the moderating influence of visual and flavour stimulus variety. Three online studies (n = 1149 total) manipulated food colour and flavour variety and reproducibly revealed a non-linear dose-response pattern of imagined eating: 3 repetitions primed, while 30 repetitions satiated. Priming appeared to be specific to the taste of the exposed stimulus, and satiation, contrary to prior literature, appeared to be more general. Neither colour nor flavour variety reliably moderated any of the responses. Therefore, the results suggest that a more pronounced variety may be required to alter imagery-induced satiation.

AB - While obesity remains a pressing issue, the wider population continues to be exposed to more digital food content than ever before. Much research has demonstrated the priming effect of visual food content, i.e., exposure to food cues increasing appetite and food intake. In contrast, some recent research points out that repeated imagined consumption can facilitate satiate and decrease food intake. Such findings have been suggested as potential remedies to excessive food cue exposure. However, the practically limitless variety of digital food content available today may undermine satiation attempts. The present work aims to replicate and extend prior findings by introducing a within-subjects baseline comparison, disentangling general and (sensory-) specific eating desires, as well as considering the moderating influence of visual and flavour stimulus variety. Three online studies (n = 1149 total) manipulated food colour and flavour variety and reproducibly revealed a non-linear dose-response pattern of imagined eating: 3 repetitions primed, while 30 repetitions satiated. Priming appeared to be specific to the taste of the exposed stimulus, and satiation, contrary to prior literature, appeared to be more general. Neither colour nor flavour variety reliably moderated any of the responses. Therefore, the results suggest that a more pronounced variety may be required to alter imagery-induced satiation.

KW - Grounded cognition

KW - Habituation

KW - Mental imagery

KW - Priming

KW - Sensitization

KW - Sensory-specific satiety

U2 - 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106421

DO - 10.1016/j.appet.2022.106421

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 36528255

AN - SCOPUS:85144386047

VL - 182

JO - Appetite

JF - Appetite

SN - 0195-6663

M1 - 106421

ER -