Sound pleasantness influences the perception of both emotional and non-emotional foods

Abstract

Sounds elicit emotional responses that can influence the perception of food. However, the effects of sounds upon the perception of emotional and non-emotional foods have yet to be fully elucidated. The present study was designed to investigate how pleasant and unpleasant sounds influenced both perception and emotion responses during the consumption of chocolate milkshake (CM) and vegetable ice cream, representing emotional non-emotional foods, respectively. The temporal changes in perceived flavour were documented using the temporal dominance of sensations (TDS) method. In addition, ratings of liking, affective states, and emotional state were determined following the consumption of milkshake and ice cream. Canonical variate analysis (CVA) was used to further summarise the standardised duration of flavour of CM, liked vegetable ice cream (LV), and less liked vegetable ice cream (LLV) consumed under different sound conditions. Multivariate analysis revealed significant differences between the standardised duration of flavours of CM, LV, and LLV perceived under the pleasant sound (PS) and unpleasant sound (US) conditions. Additionally, flavour perception, affective states, and emotional responses varied with CM, LV, and LLV under the PS and US conditions. These findings contribute to a better understanding of how sounds that vary in pleasantness can influence the perceptual dynamics of emotional and non-emotional foods.

Keywords: Chocolate; Emotional foods; Emotions; Pleasant sound; Temporal dominance of sensations; Vegetable ice cream.