TY - JOUR

T1 - “Smooth operator”

T2 - Music modulates the perceived creaminess, sweetness, and bitterness of chocolate

AU - Reinoso Carvalho, Felipe

AU - Wang, Qian (Janice)

AU - van Ee, Raymond

AU - Persoone, Dominique

AU - Spence, Charles

N1 - Funding Information: FRC was partly funded by the CAPES Foundation, Brazil ( BEX 3488/13-6 ). RvE was supported by the Flemish Methusalem program (METH/14/02 assigned to J. Wagemans), the EU Horizon 2020 program (HealthPac assigned to J. van Opstal), and the Flemish Organization for Scientific Research (FWO) . Publisher Copyright: © 2016 Elsevier Ltd

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - There has been a recent growth of interest in determining whether sound (specifically music and soundscapes) can enhance not only the basic taste attributes associated with food and beverage items (such as sweetness, bitterness, sourness, etc.), but also other important components of the tasting experience, such as, for instance, crunchiness, creaminess, and/or carbonation. In the present study, participants evaluated the perceived creaminess of chocolate. Two contrasting soundtracks were produced with such texture-correspondences in mind, and validated by means of a pre-test. The participants tasted the same chocolate twice (without knowing that the chocolates were identical), each time listening to one of the soundtracks. The ‘creamy’ soundtrack enhanced the perceived creaminess and sweetness of the chocolates, as compared to the ratings given while listening to the ‘rough’ soundtrack. Moreover, while the participants preferred the creamy soundtrack, this difference did not appear to affect their overall enjoyment of the chocolates. Interestingly, and in contrast with previous similar studies, these results demonstrate that in certain cases, sounds can have a perceptual effect on gustatory food attributes without necessarily altering the hedonic experience.

AB - There has been a recent growth of interest in determining whether sound (specifically music and soundscapes) can enhance not only the basic taste attributes associated with food and beverage items (such as sweetness, bitterness, sourness, etc.), but also other important components of the tasting experience, such as, for instance, crunchiness, creaminess, and/or carbonation. In the present study, participants evaluated the perceived creaminess of chocolate. Two contrasting soundtracks were produced with such texture-correspondences in mind, and validated by means of a pre-test. The participants tasted the same chocolate twice (without knowing that the chocolates were identical), each time listening to one of the soundtracks. The ‘creamy’ soundtrack enhanced the perceived creaminess and sweetness of the chocolates, as compared to the ratings given while listening to the ‘rough’ soundtrack. Moreover, while the participants preferred the creamy soundtrack, this difference did not appear to affect their overall enjoyment of the chocolates. Interestingly, and in contrast with previous similar studies, these results demonstrate that in certain cases, sounds can have a perceptual effect on gustatory food attributes without necessarily altering the hedonic experience.

KW - Chocolate

KW - Crossmodal correspondences

KW - Multisensory perception

KW - Music

KW - Sound

KW - Taste

U2 - 10.1016/j.appet.2016.10.026

DO - 10.1016/j.appet.2016.10.026

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 27784634

AN - SCOPUS:84994351553

VL - 108

SP - 383

EP - 390

JO - Appetite

JF - Appetite

SN - 0195-6663

ER -