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Assessing the appropriateness of ‘synaesthetic’ messaging on crisps packaging
Food Quality and Preference 26 (2012) 45–51
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Assessing the appropriateness of ‘synaesthetic’ messaging on crisps packaging Anne-Sylvie Crisinel ⇑, Charles Spence Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
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Article history: Received 29 September 2011 Received in revised form 9 March 2012 Accepted 29 March 2012 Available online 5 April 2012 Keywords: Crossmodal associations Packaging design Crisps Pitch Musical notes
a b s t r a c t The use of synaesthetic metaphors or imagery in product advertisements and packaging has increased in popularity in recent years. However, it is often unclear whether the crossmodal associations used (e.g., between instruments and flavours) really correspond to those held by the target consumers. In the present study, we investigated the case of the packaging used for the Walkers’ Sensations range of crisps. The packaging includes specific colours, patterns, and, in some cases, pictures of musical instruments associated with the various flavours in the range. The results demonstrated that although the different flavours of crisp were matched with musical notes of different pitches, there were no significant differences in the class of instruments chosen to match any of the flavours. Analysis of the visual matches made by participants revealed that different flavours of crisp were matched with different colours, although interestingly the choice often did not match the colour that had been chosen for the packaging. There were no significant differences in the choice of visual pattern that participants matched to the various flavours. These results underline the need to carefully consider the crossmodal correspondence of features in different sensory modalities, in order to avoid incongruent matching in multisensory communications. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Those researchers and cultural trend-spotters with an eye on the marketplace have highlighted the growing move toward the use of synaesthetic metaphor in marketing communications (e.g., Howes, 2005; Meehan, Samuel, & Abrahamson, 1998; Nelson & Hitchon, 1995, 1999). Indeed, it was back in 1998 that Meehan et al. confidently predicted that the 21st century would continue to bring a ‘‘sensory blending of tasting shapes, hearing colors, and seeing smells’’. Meanwhile, Nelson and Hitchon documented the extensive use of synaesthetic metaphor in a wide variety of marketing and corporate communications, including everything from Skittles’ ‘‘Taste the rainbow’’ through to Purex Toss’N Sort’s fabric conditioner claiming that their product delivered ‘‘Softness that you can smell’’. More recent examples of synaesthetic copy include Donna Karan’s Cashmere Mist perfume, advertised with the following strapline: ‘‘Sensory seduction: The softness of the world’s most luxurious fabric is captured in Donna Karan’s Cashmere Mist’’. However, until recently, the majority of this ‘synaesthetic’ marketing has involved the mixing of the senses, and of sensory descriptors, in the written copy. Very recently, though, a number of companies have started to use visual imagery in their advertising or packaging that involves some kind of sensory mixing. Take, for example, an advertising campaign by Pioneer selling audiovisual goods (e.g., their
⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK. Tel.: +44 1865 271307; fax: +44 1865 310447. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.-S. Crisinel). 0950-3293/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2012.03.009
range of Kuro televisions) with images of eyes where the pupil has been replaced by an open mouth, and where the fingertips of an outstretched hand all have ears (the video clips can be seen on http:// goo.gl/RwZ8N, and http://goo.gl/9QvdS). In this case, the use of synaesthetic imagery has been combined with synaesthetic copy too ‘‘ Go beyond sight as you know it. Go beyond sound as you’ve ever imagined it could be. Where your eye bites into a red so juicy it explodes in a gush and runs down your cheek. Where colours can be felt, sounds tasted and it all comes together to create something truly unique.’’ Turning from home electronics back to the food sector, Walkers, a British company producing potato crisps and other snacks, recently modified the packaging of one of their range of crisps called Walkers’ Sensations. The visual imagery used on the packaging of this product range appears to have been designed explicitly in order to convey a multisensory experience: The background colour for the packaging is black, with the word Sensations printed in white ink. A big S shape is presented on the front of each package (see Fig. 1). However, it is printed in a different colour for each of the seven different flavours in the range. The large S shape is filled with (or made up of) pictures of the ingredients corresponding to the flavour, but also other pictures and patterns. Interestingly, some flavours include pictures of musical instruments (see Fig. 1 and Table 1), which are not often represented on food packaging.1 The timbre of musical instruments can 1 Since the study was conducted, Walkers has once again modified the design of the packaging for its Sensations range. The ‘S’ shape has been replaced by a bigger picture representing the ingredients present in the flavour. Unrelated pictures have been removed, and the use of shapes and patterns is currently limited, and very similar for the various flavours.
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Fig. 1. Packaging of two of the crisp flavours: roasted chicken and thyme (A), and balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion (B).
Table 1 Main features of the packaging design for the 7 crisp flavours from the Walkers Sensations range. Flavour
Main colour
Musical instrument
Southern style barbecue Vintage cheddar and onion chutney Roasted chicken and thyme Thai sweet chilli Balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion Oriental red curry Roasted tomato and aromatic spices
White Yellow Green Red Purple
Brass instruments – Trumpet – String instrument
Orange Pink
– Percussion instruments
be associated with specific tastes, flavours, and odours (Crisinel & Spence, 2010; Spence, 2011; see also Crisinel & Spence, 2012a). Both neurologically-normal participants and synaesthetes have been shown to match shapes to tastes, aromas, and flavours (e.g., Cytowic, 1993; Cytowic & Wood, 1982; Deroy & Valentin, 2011; Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011). DeRosia (2008) demonstrated that consumers scoring low on the need for cognition dimension (NFC; a measure of ‘‘the tendency for an individual to engage in and enjoy thinking’’, Cacioppo & Petty, 1982) are less influenced by nonverbal symbolic signs and metaphors in advertisement, as they require too much cognitive processing. The use of crossmodal associations (or correspondences), which often seems to take place at an implicit level (Crisinel & Spence, 2009; Spence, 2012), might thus prove to be more effective in relaying the marketers’ message. The use of synaesthetic metaphor has been shown to render ads more pleasant and novel (Nelson & Hitchon, 1999). Furthermore, congruent multisensory stimulation leads to an enhanced customer response to the product (Lutsch, Scharf, & Zanger, 2011; Seo & Hummel, 2011; although the NFC of participants was not measured in these studies). The use of multisensory stimulation thus shows great promise in terms of
improving the marketing of various products. We would further argue that the development of robust methods with which to assess the appropriateness of specific crossmodal associations is therefore worth investigating. One important question raised by the Sensations range of crisps is whether the instruments paired with the different flavours of the crisps, as well as the patterns and colours, match crossmodally. The aim of the present study was therefore threefold: first, to assess the appropriateness in terms of crossmodal associations of the musical instruments, colours, and patterns chosen for each of the seven flavours of crisp; second, to extend previous works on crossmodal associations elicited by flavours by comparing the present results with those reported in previous studies; and third, to develop a robust experimental paradigm with which to assess the congruency of crossmodal associations. The participants tested in the present study were instructed to associate the seven flavours of crisp with a variety of stimuli in other modalities, chosen based on the stimuli present on the crisps packaging and on previous research on crossmodal associations elicited by flavours: pitch and instrument playing musical notes (cf. Crisinel & Spence, 2010), colours, angular or rounded shapes (cf. Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011; Spence & Ngo, in press), and patterns. The visual patterns were designed using a Guilloché pattern generator (see Fig. 2), so that they could be mathematically defined, in contrast to other studies on shape-taste/flavour/odour associations that have typically tended to use a fairly arbitrarily chosen range of shapes (e.g., Cytowic & Wood, 1982; Deroy & Valentin, 2011; Seo et al., 2010). Based on previous studies, the following associations might have been expected: – Flavours rated as more sour and sweet should be associated with higher pitch, while flavours rated as more bitter should be associated with lower pitch (Crisinel & Spence, 2010). The southern style barbecue flavour might be expected to be associated with low-pitched notes due to its smoky aroma (Crisinel & Spence, 2012a).
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– Flavours rated as more pleasant should be associated with notes played by the piano, while for less pleasant flavours, brass instruments should be preferred (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b). – Flavours rated as more bitter should be associated with angular (rather than rounded) shapes (Ngo et al., 2011). In the present experiment, we chose crisps belonging to the same range, in an effort to minimise any differences in texture and appearance. Any differences we find in how participants rate the crisps and associate them with colours, patterns, shapes, and sounds will thus presumably be due solely to any differences in their flavour. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Participants Twenty-two participants took part in the experiment (aged 17– 33 years, 14 females), which was approved by the Central University Research Ethics Committee of Oxford University. Participants gave their informed consent, reported no cold or other impairment of their senses of taste and smell, and no hearing impairment. The experiment lasted for approximately 15 min. 2.2. Stimuli Seven flavours of crisps were used in the experiment: balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion, oriental red curry, roasted chicken and thyme, roasted tomato and aromatic spices, southern style barbecue, Thai sweet chilli, and vintage cheddar and onion chutney (all manufactured by Walkers, UK). Samples consisted of one average-sized crisp. The auditory stimuli for the experiment came from an online musical instrument samples database from the University of Iowa Electronic Music Studios (http://theremin.music.uiowa.edu/MIS.html, downloaded on 31/10/09). They consisted of notes played by four types of instruments (piano, strings, woodwind, and brass). The pitch
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of the notes ranged from C2 (64.4 Hz) to C6 (1046.5 Hz) in intervals of two tones. Thus, the participants had to choose from 52 different sounds (13 notes 4 instruments) when selecting a sound to match to each flavour of crisp. The sounds were edited to last for 1500 ms, and were presented over closed-ear headphones (Beyerdynamic DT 531) at a loudness of 70 dB (±1 dB). The colour stimuli consisted of 10 circles (6 cm in diameter) filled in black (RGB values: 0,0,0), blue (0,0,255), green (0,255,0), grey (221,221,221), orange (254,136,18), pink (255,102,255), red (255,0,0), purple (182,1,255), yellow (255,255,0), or white (255, 255,255). The pattern stimuli were created using an online Guilloché pattern generator (available at: http://www.subblue.com/projects/ guilloche, downloaded on 14/06/2011). The following parameters were used: scale: 2.5, multiplier: 1, major ripple: 49, minor ripple: 0.25, radius: 33, opacity: 1, thickness: 1. The number of steps was the only parameter that varied. Eight patterns were used, with the following number of steps: 10, 70, 130, 190, 291, 310, 490, 2730 (see Fig. 2). 2.3. Procedure The experiment was programmed in E-Prime (version 1.2, Psychology Software Tools, Inc.). The participants were first given the number of the sample that they were to taste. They were then given the crisp by the experimenter and instructed to follow the on-screen instructions. The sounds were presented on four scales corresponding to the four types of instruments. Pitch increased along the scales (horizontally), the direction was randomly chosen for each trial (i.e., higher pitch could be presented on either the left or right). The sounds could be heard by clicking on the scale. The participants were free to click on as many of the sounds as they wished before making their choice. Next, the participant chose one of ten colours to match to the flavour by checking a box under the colour of their choice. They then rated the flavour on a 9-point scale anchored by an angular shape and a rounded shape (see Fig. 2 for the shapes used
Fig. 2. Angular (A) and rounded (B) shapes used as anchors for the shape scale, and Guilloché patterns used in the flavour-patterns matching task. The only variable was the number of steps: 10 (C), 70 (D), 130 (E), 190 (F), 291 (G), 310 (H), 490 (I), and 2730 (J).
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to anchor the scale). The participants were then presented with the 8 Guilloché patterns and instructed to pick the pattern that best matched the flavour of the crisp. Next, they rated the bitterness, saltiness, sourness, sweetness, intensity, complexity, and pleasantness of the sample using 9-point scales. These ratings were made in a random order. All of the scales were anchored by the words ‘not at all’ on the left side, and ‘extremely so’ on the right. Finally, the participants had to try and identify the flavour of the crisp. The seven flavours of crisps were presented once in a random order. The participants were instructed to rinse their mouth with tap water after tasting each sample. At the end of the experiment, the participants were instructed to fill in a questionnaire with the following questions: ‘How often do you eat crisps?’ (possible answers were: 1–2 times a year or less, several times a year but less than once a month, 1–3 times a month, once a week, or several times a week), ‘Which brand(s) do you have most often?’, ‘Have you ever tasted the Walkers Sensations range?’, ‘Have you ever seen the design of the Walkers Sensations range packaging?’, and ‘If yes, can you briefly describe it?’ 2.4. Data analysis Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used for the interval data (choice of pitch, angular vs. rounded shape scale, and ratings), with flavours as a within-subjects variable. The data were further subjected to a principal components analysis (PCA) following the approach suggested by Palland (2005). MonteCarlo simulated Fisher’s exact tests were used for nominal data (choice of instrument, colour, and Guilloché patterns), as the expected frequencies were too low to use Pearson’s chi-square test. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (version 20). 3. Results 3.1. Knowledge of crisps Eleven of the participants cited Walkers as one of the brands that they consumed most frequently, and stated that they had tasted the Sensations range before. Fourteen of the participants had seen the packaging of the Sensations range of crisps and were able to describe it briefly. However, each participant was able to identify at most three of the flavours correctly (M = 0.77). It is thus unlikely that their choices and ratings were influenced by their knowledge of the flavours and the corresponding design on the packaging.
instrument was significantly different for low, middle, and high pleasantness ratings, v2(6, N = 154) = 26.19, p < .001 (see Fig. 4). For low ratings (1–3), brass instruments were chosen most often, while for high ratings (7–9), the piano was preferred. 3.4. Colours A Monte-Carlo simulation of Fisher’s exact test was used in order to assess whether different colours were chosen to match the different flavours. Our results indicate that the crisp flavours influenced the choice of colour p = .002, 99% CI .001–.002. However, the actual colour of the crisps seem to have been an important factor in determining participants’ choices, as the preferred colours overall were yellow, orange, and red (see Fig. 5). Yellow was preferred for the vintage cheddar and onion chutney, roasted chicken and thyme, as well as caramelised onion and balsamic vinegar flavours. Orange was preferred for the southern style barbecue, as well as for the roasted tomato and aromatic spices flavours. Red and orange were preferred for the Thai sweet chilli flavour. Finally, green was preferred for the oriental red curry flavour. It would thus seem that the participants’ preferred colour did not match the dominant colour used on the packaging in the majority of cases, with the exception of vintage cheddar and onion chutney and, to some extent, roasted chicken and thyme, and Thai sweet chilli. 3.5. Shapes and patterns A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted in order to assess whether there were any differences between the ratings on the angular versus rounded shape scale for the 7 flavours. In this case, the variations in participants’ ratings did not reach statistical significance, F(6, 126) = 1.77, p = .110 (see Fig. 6). However, separate one-sample t tests with the test value set to 5 (the mid-point of the scale) were conducted. The mean rating for the sweet Thai chilli flavour was significantly different from the mid-point value, t(21) = 2.19, p = .040, thus showing that participants tended to associate the flavour with the angular shape. Similarly, the oriental red curry flavour induced a marginally significant preference for the angular shape, t(21) = 2.02, p = .056. A Monte-Carlo simulation of Fisher’s exact test was used to assess whether different types of Guilloché patterns were chosen for different flavours. The flavours did not significantly influence the
3.2. Pitch A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted in order to assess whether there were any differences between the average pitch matched to the seven flavours of crisps. The results indicated that the participants matched the seven flavours to pitch differently, F(6, 126) = 3.32, p = .005 (see Fig. 3). 3.3. Types of instruments A Monte-Carlo simulation of Fisher’s exact test was used in order to assess whether different types of instruments were chosen for different flavours. The results indicated that the flavours did not influence the instruments chosen p = .725, 99% CI .721–.728. Since pleasantness has been reported to be an important factor in the choice of instrument associated with a flavour (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b), the effect of the rating of pleasantness on the choice of instrument was examined. The pleasantness ratings were binned in three groups (1–3, 4–6, and 5–9 ratings). The choice of
Fig. 3. Mean pitch matched to each crisp flavour: Southern style barbecue (BBQ), roasted chicken and thyme (chicken), roasted tomato and aromatic spices (tomato), balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion (onion), Thai sweet chilli (chilli), vintage cheddar and onion chutney (cheddar), and oriental red curry (red curry). MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) note numbers were used to code the pitch of the chosen notes. Western musical scale notation is shown on the right-hand y-axis. Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval. Significant differences (post-hoc, Bonferroni-corrected t-tests, p < .05) are marked by an asterisk.
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Fig. 4. Choice of instrument as a function of the pleasantness ratings, binned into three categories (1-3: unpleasant, 4-6: indifferent, and 7-9: pleasant). The total count across categories is 154 (22 participants x 7 stimuli).
choice of pattern, p = .141, 99% CI .138–.144. This contrasts with recent results demonstrating associations between shapes and flavours (of beers, Deroy & Valentin, 2011), and shapes and odours (Seo et al., 2010). 3.6. Ratings A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted in order to assess whether the seven flavours were rated differently in terms of their bitterness, saltiness, sourness, sweetness, complexity, intensity, and/or pleasantness. The results indicated that only the intensities of the seven flavours of crisps were rated differently by participants, F(6, 126) = 3.99, p = .001. The pitch, the ratings on the shape scale, as well as the 7 other ratings (complex, intense, pleasant, bitter, salty, sour, sweet), were subjected to principal components analysis (PCA). The suitability of this approach was assessed first. The correlation matrix revealed the presence of several coefficients above .3. The Kaiser–Meyer– Oklin value was .604, thus attaining the recommended value of .6 (Kaiser, 1970, 1974), and the Bartlett’s test of sphericity (Bartlett, 1954) reached statistical significance, supporting the factorability of the correlation matrix. PCA revealed the presence of three components with eigenvalues over 1, explaining 30.3%, 19.3%, and 14.4% of the variance, respectively. We decided to keep these three components, based on the inspection of the scree plot and results of parallel analysis (using the program Monte Carlo PCA for Parallel Analysis, developed by Marley Watkins, 2000), which demonstrated three components with eigenvalues exceeding the corresponding criterion values for a randomly generated data matrix of the same size (9 variables by 154 trials). Varimax rotation was performed. The first component contributed 29.7% of the total variance explained (63.9%), while the second and third components contributed 19.6% and 14.7%, respectively (see Fig. 7).
Fig. 6. Mean ratings on the shape scale (anchored with an angular and rounded shape) for each of the seven flavours: Southern style barbecue (BBQ), roasted chicken and thyme (chicken), roasted tomato and aromatic spices (tomato), balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion (onion), Thai sweet chilli (chilli), vintage cheddar and onion chutney (cheddar), and oriental red curry (red curry). Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval.
The main loadings on the first component were bitter (.764), sour (.751), intense (.708), complex (.679), and salty (.662). This suggests that the first component might represent the overall intensity of the taste. The second component had strong positive loadings of pleasant (.831) and sweet (.730), and thus probably represents pleasantness. Finally, the third component had a strong positive loading of pitch (.809), and a strong negative loading of the shape scale ( .705). The loadings of pitch on the first two components were both very weak ( 0.88 and .161), thus suggesting that the choice of pitch was not based on the intensity or pleasantness of the stimuli. The shape scale had weak loadings on the first two components ( .303, .339), suggesting that, while intensity and pleasantness might have played a role in the choice of shape, these factors are not enough to satisfactorily explain these choices. The shape scale had a very strong negative loading on the third component ( .705), suggesting that a common factor might underlie the choice of pitch and shape associated with the crisps.
4. Discussion The crisps used in the present study were very similar in terms of their appearance and texture. They were also rated by participants as being similar in terms of their complexity, pleasantness, bitterness, saltiness, sourness, and sweetness. The only rating that
Fig. 5. Choice of colour as a function of the flavour tasted. The total count per category is 22.
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A
B
C
Fig. 7. Two-dimensional projections of the loadings of the pitch and the various ratings on the rotated components extracted through principal components analysis (PCA). First and second components (A), second and third components (B), and first and third components (C).
varied significantly as a function of the variety of crisp was the intensity of the overall flavour. Despite this high degree of similarity, we found differences in the pitch and colour chosen to match the different flavours. It thus seems that variation in the intensity of basic tastes is not required to induce associations with pitch. Moreover, the choice of pitch was not linked to the intensity and pleasantness components found through PCA, suggesting that some other feature(s) of the stimuli drove the association with pitch. One such feature might be the odour of the crisps (either smelled orthonasally before consumption, or retronasally as a component of the overall flavour percept), since as expected from its slightly smoky odour, the southern style barbecue flavour was associated with the lowest pitch. The participants in the present study did not appear to make consistent associations between the flavours and instrument types. This might be due do the fact that the flavours of the crisps did not differ significantly in their pleasantness, as the choice of instrument has been shown to be influenced by the pleasantness of food stimuli (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b). Indeed, when the pleasantness ratings were considered independently from the flavours, the expected effect of the pleasantness ratings on the choice of instru-
ment was shown. It might thus not seem to have been relevant to include musical instruments in the design of the packaging of some of the flavours, at least not if the choice of instrument was meant to convey some information about the likely sensory-discriminative properties of the packaging’s contents. Specific colours were consistently matched to specific flavours. However, the choice of colour was highly influenced by the colour of the crisps themselves, as the preferred colours overall were yellow and orange (see Fig. 5). It is interesting to note that neither red oriental curry, nor roasted tomato and aromatic spices were associated with the colour red (but were associated instead with green and orange, respectively), suggesting that in these cases, the choice of colour was not based on the actual colour of the ingredients contributing to the flavour (cf. Demattè, Sanabria, & Spence, 2006). The colours that were chosen least frequently were white, black, blue, and grey (though note that strictly-speaking, black, white, and grey are not colours). It would thus seem that in order to induce the correct expectations in the minds of consumers, packaging designs should use the colours of the food item itself, and avoid colours that are rarely found in natural food products. It should be noted that the participants were not blindfolded when tasting the crisps, and might thus have been influenced by their colour. However, crisps would have been expected to be in the yelloworange range even without any visual information to confirm it. The associations between certain flavours and shapes, found previously for other food items (e.g., sparkling and still water, Spence & Gallace, 2011; chocolate varying in its cocoa content, Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011; and beers, Deroy & Valentin, 2011), were only found for two of the flavours used in the present study. One suggestion is that these crossmodal associations (or correspondences) might thus be based mostly on the texture of food item, a factor that varied minimally in the present study. Alternatively, it might be based on presence/strength of basic tastes (see Dichter, 1971; Spence & Ngo, in press; Spence, Ngo, Percival, & Smith, submitted) which, once again, did not differ much in this study. Range restriction (see, e.g., Kantowitz, Elmes, & Roediger, 2008, p. 42) might thus be responsible for some of the null results reported in the present study. The use of a wider range of food stimuli might be necessary in order to observe strong shape associations. Dichter, for example, suggested that people match sweetness with roundness, and angularity (specifically a triangular shape) with bitterness. Similarly, it was the variation in bitterness that correlated with angularity of shape chosen by participants in Ngo et al.’s recent study of chocolate that varied in its cocoa content. It would therefore be interesting in future research to explore more complex shapes, such as the patterns used in the present study, in relation to food items varying in both their texture and their basic tastes properties (cf. Deroy & Valentin, 2011; Seo et al., 2010). The number of participants in the present study was relatively small (22 participants) and might explain some of the non-significant results. However, a number of crossmodal associations have been demonstrated in recent studies based on a similar number of participants: odour-colour associations (Demattè et al., 2006; 21 participants); taste-shape associations (Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011; 22 participants); food-words associations (Gallace, Boschin, & Spence, 2011; 10 participants; flavour-musical notes associations (Crisinel & Spence, 2011; 22 participants). To summarise, the previously reported associations between basic tastes and pitch or shapes could not be confirmed due to the low variation of the stimuli in terms of basic tastes. However, the association of smoky odours with low-pitched notes was confirmed (Crisinel & Spence, 2012a). Moreover, the influence of pleasantness on the choice of instruments was again demonstrated (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b). With the possible exception of the Thai sweet chilli flavour, the stimuli presented on the crisps packaging were mostly crossmodally incongruent with
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the crisps flavours, which might be one of the reasons the design of the packaging for this range has been once again modified since the present study was conducted. Such results underline the need to carefully assess crossmodal associations that are to be used in packaging design. References Bartlett, M. S. (1954). A note on multiplying factors for various chi square approximations. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 16 (Series B), 296–298. Cacioppo, J. T., & Petty, R. E. (1982). The need for cognition. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 42, 116–131. Crisinel, A.-S., & Spence, C. (2009). Implicit association between basic tastes and pitch. Neuroscience Letters, 464, 39–42. Crisinel, A.-S., & Spence, C. (2010). As bitter as a trombone: Synesthetic correspondences in nonsynesthetes between tastes/flavors and musical notes. Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics, 72, 1994–2002. Crisinel, A.-S., & Spence, C. (2011). Crossmodal associations between flavoured milk solutions and musical notes. Food Quality and Preference, 138, 155–161. Crisinel, A.-S., & Spence, C. (2012a). A fruity note: Crossmodal associations between odors and musical notes. Chemical Senses, 37, 151–158. Crisinel, A.-S., & Spence, C. (2012b). The impact of pleasantness ratings on crossmodal associations between food samples and musical notes. Food Quality and Preference, 24, 136–140. Cytowic, R. E. (1993). The man who tasted shapes. New York: Putnam. Cytowic, R. E., & Wood, F. B. (1982). Synaesthesia II: Psychophysical relations in the synaesthesia of geometrically shaped taste and colored hearing. Brain and Cognition, 1, 36–49. Demattè, M. L., Sanabria, D., & Spence, C. (2006). Cross-modal associations between odors and colors. Chemical Senses, 31, 531–538. DeRosia, E. D. (2008). The effectiveness of nonverbal symbolic signs and metaphors in advertisements: An experimental inquiry. Psychology and Marketing, 25, 298–316. Deroy, O., & Valentin, D. (2011). Tasting shapes: Investigating cross-modal correspondences. Chemosensory Perception, 4, 80–90. Dichter, E. (1971). The strategy of selling with packaging. Package Engineering Magazine. 16a–16c. Gallace, A., Boschin, E., & Spence, C. (2011). On the taste of ‘‘Bouba’’ and ‘‘Kiki’’: An exploration of word-food associations in neurologically normal participants. Cognitive Neuroscience, 2, 34–46.
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Howes, D. (2005). Hyperesthesia, or, the sensual logic of late capitalism. In D. Howes (Ed.), Empire of the senses: The sensual culture reader (pp. 281–303). Oxford: Berg. Kaiser, H. (1970). A second generation Little Jiffy. Psychometrika, 35, 401–415. Kaiser, H. (1974). An index of factorial simplicity. Psychometrika, 39, 31–36. Kantowitz, B. H., Elmes, D. G., & Roediger, H. L. (2008). Experimental psychology (9th ed.). Monterey, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company. Lutsch, D., Scharf, A., & Zanger, C. (2011, September). Multisensual package design: Does the so called multisensual enhancement exist in a marketing context? Poster presented at the 9th Pangborn Sensory Science Symposium, Toronto, Canada. Meehan, M., Samuel, L., & Abrahamson, V. (1998). The future ain’t what it used to be: The 40 cultural trends transforming your job, your life, your world. New York: Riverhead Books. Nelson, M. R., & Hitchon, J. C. (1995). Theory of synesthesia applied to persuasion in print advertising headlines. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 72, 346-360. Nelson, M. R., & Hitchon, J. C. (1999). Loud tastes, colored fragrances, and scented sounds: How and when to mix the senses in persuasive communications. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, 76, 354–372. Ngo, M. K., Misra, R., & Spence, C. (2011). Assessing the shapes and speech sounds that people associate with chocolate samples varying in cocoa content. Food Quality and Preference, 22, 567–572. Palland, J. (2005). SPSS survival manual (Second Ed.). Maidenhead, UK: Open University Press. Seo, H.-S., Arshamian, A., Schemmer, K., Scheer, I., Sander, T., Ritter, G., et al. (2010). Cross-modal integration between odors and abstract symbols. Neuroscience Letters, 478, 175–178. Seo, H.-S., & Hummel, T. (2011). Auditory-olfactory integration: congruent or pleasant sounds amplify odor pleasantness. Chemical Senses, 36, 301–309. Spence, C. (2011). Wine and music. The World of Fine Wine, 31, 96–104. Spence, C. (2012). Managing sensory expectations concerning products and brands: Capitalizing on the potential of sound and shape symbolism. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 22, 37–54. Spence, C., & Ngo, M. (in press). Capitalizing on shape symbolism in the food and beverage sector. Flavour. Spence, C., Ngo, M., Percival, B., & Smith, B. (submitted). Crossmodal correspondences: Assessing the shape symbolism of foods having a complex flavour profile. Food Quality & Preference. Spence, C., & Gallace, A. (2011). Tasting shapes and words. Food Quality and Preference, 22, 290–295.
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Food Quality and Preference journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodqual
Assessing the appropriateness of ‘synaesthetic’ messaging on crisps packaging Anne-Sylvie Crisinel ⇑, Charles Spence Crossmodal Research Laboratory, Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK
a r t i c l e
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Article history: Received 29 September 2011 Received in revised form 9 March 2012 Accepted 29 March 2012 Available online 5 April 2012 Keywords: Crossmodal associations Packaging design Crisps Pitch Musical notes
a b s t r a c t The use of synaesthetic metaphors or imagery in product advertisements and packaging has increased in popularity in recent years. However, it is often unclear whether the crossmodal associations used (e.g., between instruments and flavours) really correspond to those held by the target consumers. In the present study, we investigated the case of the packaging used for the Walkers’ Sensations range of crisps. The packaging includes specific colours, patterns, and, in some cases, pictures of musical instruments associated with the various flavours in the range. The results demonstrated that although the different flavours of crisp were matched with musical notes of different pitches, there were no significant differences in the class of instruments chosen to match any of the flavours. Analysis of the visual matches made by participants revealed that different flavours of crisp were matched with different colours, although interestingly the choice often did not match the colour that had been chosen for the packaging. There were no significant differences in the choice of visual pattern that participants matched to the various flavours. These results underline the need to carefully consider the crossmodal correspondence of features in different sensory modalities, in order to avoid incongruent matching in multisensory communications. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction Those researchers and cultural trend-spotters with an eye on the marketplace have highlighted the growing move toward the use of synaesthetic metaphor in marketing communications (e.g., Howes, 2005; Meehan, Samuel, & Abrahamson, 1998; Nelson & Hitchon, 1995, 1999). Indeed, it was back in 1998 that Meehan et al. confidently predicted that the 21st century would continue to bring a ‘‘sensory blending of tasting shapes, hearing colors, and seeing smells’’. Meanwhile, Nelson and Hitchon documented the extensive use of synaesthetic metaphor in a wide variety of marketing and corporate communications, including everything from Skittles’ ‘‘Taste the rainbow’’ through to Purex Toss’N Sort’s fabric conditioner claiming that their product delivered ‘‘Softness that you can smell’’. More recent examples of synaesthetic copy include Donna Karan’s Cashmere Mist perfume, advertised with the following strapline: ‘‘Sensory seduction: The softness of the world’s most luxurious fabric is captured in Donna Karan’s Cashmere Mist’’. However, until recently, the majority of this ‘synaesthetic’ marketing has involved the mixing of the senses, and of sensory descriptors, in the written copy. Very recently, though, a number of companies have started to use visual imagery in their advertising or packaging that involves some kind of sensory mixing. Take, for example, an advertising campaign by Pioneer selling audiovisual goods (e.g., their
⇑ Corresponding author. Address: Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3UD, UK. Tel.: +44 1865 271307; fax: +44 1865 310447. E-mail address: [email protected] (A.-S. Crisinel). 0950-3293/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2012.03.009
range of Kuro televisions) with images of eyes where the pupil has been replaced by an open mouth, and where the fingertips of an outstretched hand all have ears (the video clips can be seen on http:// goo.gl/RwZ8N, and http://goo.gl/9QvdS). In this case, the use of synaesthetic imagery has been combined with synaesthetic copy too ‘‘ Go beyond sight as you know it. Go beyond sound as you’ve ever imagined it could be. Where your eye bites into a red so juicy it explodes in a gush and runs down your cheek. Where colours can be felt, sounds tasted and it all comes together to create something truly unique.’’ Turning from home electronics back to the food sector, Walkers, a British company producing potato crisps and other snacks, recently modified the packaging of one of their range of crisps called Walkers’ Sensations. The visual imagery used on the packaging of this product range appears to have been designed explicitly in order to convey a multisensory experience: The background colour for the packaging is black, with the word Sensations printed in white ink. A big S shape is presented on the front of each package (see Fig. 1). However, it is printed in a different colour for each of the seven different flavours in the range. The large S shape is filled with (or made up of) pictures of the ingredients corresponding to the flavour, but also other pictures and patterns. Interestingly, some flavours include pictures of musical instruments (see Fig. 1 and Table 1), which are not often represented on food packaging.1 The timbre of musical instruments can 1 Since the study was conducted, Walkers has once again modified the design of the packaging for its Sensations range. The ‘S’ shape has been replaced by a bigger picture representing the ingredients present in the flavour. Unrelated pictures have been removed, and the use of shapes and patterns is currently limited, and very similar for the various flavours.
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Fig. 1. Packaging of two of the crisp flavours: roasted chicken and thyme (A), and balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion (B).
Table 1 Main features of the packaging design for the 7 crisp flavours from the Walkers Sensations range. Flavour
Main colour
Musical instrument
Southern style barbecue Vintage cheddar and onion chutney Roasted chicken and thyme Thai sweet chilli Balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion Oriental red curry Roasted tomato and aromatic spices
White Yellow Green Red Purple
Brass instruments – Trumpet – String instrument
Orange Pink
– Percussion instruments
be associated with specific tastes, flavours, and odours (Crisinel & Spence, 2010; Spence, 2011; see also Crisinel & Spence, 2012a). Both neurologically-normal participants and synaesthetes have been shown to match shapes to tastes, aromas, and flavours (e.g., Cytowic, 1993; Cytowic & Wood, 1982; Deroy & Valentin, 2011; Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011). DeRosia (2008) demonstrated that consumers scoring low on the need for cognition dimension (NFC; a measure of ‘‘the tendency for an individual to engage in and enjoy thinking’’, Cacioppo & Petty, 1982) are less influenced by nonverbal symbolic signs and metaphors in advertisement, as they require too much cognitive processing. The use of crossmodal associations (or correspondences), which often seems to take place at an implicit level (Crisinel & Spence, 2009; Spence, 2012), might thus prove to be more effective in relaying the marketers’ message. The use of synaesthetic metaphor has been shown to render ads more pleasant and novel (Nelson & Hitchon, 1999). Furthermore, congruent multisensory stimulation leads to an enhanced customer response to the product (Lutsch, Scharf, & Zanger, 2011; Seo & Hummel, 2011; although the NFC of participants was not measured in these studies). The use of multisensory stimulation thus shows great promise in terms of
improving the marketing of various products. We would further argue that the development of robust methods with which to assess the appropriateness of specific crossmodal associations is therefore worth investigating. One important question raised by the Sensations range of crisps is whether the instruments paired with the different flavours of the crisps, as well as the patterns and colours, match crossmodally. The aim of the present study was therefore threefold: first, to assess the appropriateness in terms of crossmodal associations of the musical instruments, colours, and patterns chosen for each of the seven flavours of crisp; second, to extend previous works on crossmodal associations elicited by flavours by comparing the present results with those reported in previous studies; and third, to develop a robust experimental paradigm with which to assess the congruency of crossmodal associations. The participants tested in the present study were instructed to associate the seven flavours of crisp with a variety of stimuli in other modalities, chosen based on the stimuli present on the crisps packaging and on previous research on crossmodal associations elicited by flavours: pitch and instrument playing musical notes (cf. Crisinel & Spence, 2010), colours, angular or rounded shapes (cf. Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011; Spence & Ngo, in press), and patterns. The visual patterns were designed using a Guilloché pattern generator (see Fig. 2), so that they could be mathematically defined, in contrast to other studies on shape-taste/flavour/odour associations that have typically tended to use a fairly arbitrarily chosen range of shapes (e.g., Cytowic & Wood, 1982; Deroy & Valentin, 2011; Seo et al., 2010). Based on previous studies, the following associations might have been expected: – Flavours rated as more sour and sweet should be associated with higher pitch, while flavours rated as more bitter should be associated with lower pitch (Crisinel & Spence, 2010). The southern style barbecue flavour might be expected to be associated with low-pitched notes due to its smoky aroma (Crisinel & Spence, 2012a).
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– Flavours rated as more pleasant should be associated with notes played by the piano, while for less pleasant flavours, brass instruments should be preferred (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b). – Flavours rated as more bitter should be associated with angular (rather than rounded) shapes (Ngo et al., 2011). In the present experiment, we chose crisps belonging to the same range, in an effort to minimise any differences in texture and appearance. Any differences we find in how participants rate the crisps and associate them with colours, patterns, shapes, and sounds will thus presumably be due solely to any differences in their flavour. 2. Materials and methods 2.1. Participants Twenty-two participants took part in the experiment (aged 17– 33 years, 14 females), which was approved by the Central University Research Ethics Committee of Oxford University. Participants gave their informed consent, reported no cold or other impairment of their senses of taste and smell, and no hearing impairment. The experiment lasted for approximately 15 min. 2.2. Stimuli Seven flavours of crisps were used in the experiment: balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion, oriental red curry, roasted chicken and thyme, roasted tomato and aromatic spices, southern style barbecue, Thai sweet chilli, and vintage cheddar and onion chutney (all manufactured by Walkers, UK). Samples consisted of one average-sized crisp. The auditory stimuli for the experiment came from an online musical instrument samples database from the University of Iowa Electronic Music Studios (http://theremin.music.uiowa.edu/MIS.html, downloaded on 31/10/09). They consisted of notes played by four types of instruments (piano, strings, woodwind, and brass). The pitch
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of the notes ranged from C2 (64.4 Hz) to C6 (1046.5 Hz) in intervals of two tones. Thus, the participants had to choose from 52 different sounds (13 notes 4 instruments) when selecting a sound to match to each flavour of crisp. The sounds were edited to last for 1500 ms, and were presented over closed-ear headphones (Beyerdynamic DT 531) at a loudness of 70 dB (±1 dB). The colour stimuli consisted of 10 circles (6 cm in diameter) filled in black (RGB values: 0,0,0), blue (0,0,255), green (0,255,0), grey (221,221,221), orange (254,136,18), pink (255,102,255), red (255,0,0), purple (182,1,255), yellow (255,255,0), or white (255, 255,255). The pattern stimuli were created using an online Guilloché pattern generator (available at: http://www.subblue.com/projects/ guilloche, downloaded on 14/06/2011). The following parameters were used: scale: 2.5, multiplier: 1, major ripple: 49, minor ripple: 0.25, radius: 33, opacity: 1, thickness: 1. The number of steps was the only parameter that varied. Eight patterns were used, with the following number of steps: 10, 70, 130, 190, 291, 310, 490, 2730 (see Fig. 2). 2.3. Procedure The experiment was programmed in E-Prime (version 1.2, Psychology Software Tools, Inc.). The participants were first given the number of the sample that they were to taste. They were then given the crisp by the experimenter and instructed to follow the on-screen instructions. The sounds were presented on four scales corresponding to the four types of instruments. Pitch increased along the scales (horizontally), the direction was randomly chosen for each trial (i.e., higher pitch could be presented on either the left or right). The sounds could be heard by clicking on the scale. The participants were free to click on as many of the sounds as they wished before making their choice. Next, the participant chose one of ten colours to match to the flavour by checking a box under the colour of their choice. They then rated the flavour on a 9-point scale anchored by an angular shape and a rounded shape (see Fig. 2 for the shapes used
Fig. 2. Angular (A) and rounded (B) shapes used as anchors for the shape scale, and Guilloché patterns used in the flavour-patterns matching task. The only variable was the number of steps: 10 (C), 70 (D), 130 (E), 190 (F), 291 (G), 310 (H), 490 (I), and 2730 (J).
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to anchor the scale). The participants were then presented with the 8 Guilloché patterns and instructed to pick the pattern that best matched the flavour of the crisp. Next, they rated the bitterness, saltiness, sourness, sweetness, intensity, complexity, and pleasantness of the sample using 9-point scales. These ratings were made in a random order. All of the scales were anchored by the words ‘not at all’ on the left side, and ‘extremely so’ on the right. Finally, the participants had to try and identify the flavour of the crisp. The seven flavours of crisps were presented once in a random order. The participants were instructed to rinse their mouth with tap water after tasting each sample. At the end of the experiment, the participants were instructed to fill in a questionnaire with the following questions: ‘How often do you eat crisps?’ (possible answers were: 1–2 times a year or less, several times a year but less than once a month, 1–3 times a month, once a week, or several times a week), ‘Which brand(s) do you have most often?’, ‘Have you ever tasted the Walkers Sensations range?’, ‘Have you ever seen the design of the Walkers Sensations range packaging?’, and ‘If yes, can you briefly describe it?’ 2.4. Data analysis Repeated-measures analyses of variance (ANOVAs) were used for the interval data (choice of pitch, angular vs. rounded shape scale, and ratings), with flavours as a within-subjects variable. The data were further subjected to a principal components analysis (PCA) following the approach suggested by Palland (2005). MonteCarlo simulated Fisher’s exact tests were used for nominal data (choice of instrument, colour, and Guilloché patterns), as the expected frequencies were too low to use Pearson’s chi-square test. Data analysis was performed using SPSS (version 20). 3. Results 3.1. Knowledge of crisps Eleven of the participants cited Walkers as one of the brands that they consumed most frequently, and stated that they had tasted the Sensations range before. Fourteen of the participants had seen the packaging of the Sensations range of crisps and were able to describe it briefly. However, each participant was able to identify at most three of the flavours correctly (M = 0.77). It is thus unlikely that their choices and ratings were influenced by their knowledge of the flavours and the corresponding design on the packaging.
instrument was significantly different for low, middle, and high pleasantness ratings, v2(6, N = 154) = 26.19, p < .001 (see Fig. 4). For low ratings (1–3), brass instruments were chosen most often, while for high ratings (7–9), the piano was preferred. 3.4. Colours A Monte-Carlo simulation of Fisher’s exact test was used in order to assess whether different colours were chosen to match the different flavours. Our results indicate that the crisp flavours influenced the choice of colour p = .002, 99% CI .001–.002. However, the actual colour of the crisps seem to have been an important factor in determining participants’ choices, as the preferred colours overall were yellow, orange, and red (see Fig. 5). Yellow was preferred for the vintage cheddar and onion chutney, roasted chicken and thyme, as well as caramelised onion and balsamic vinegar flavours. Orange was preferred for the southern style barbecue, as well as for the roasted tomato and aromatic spices flavours. Red and orange were preferred for the Thai sweet chilli flavour. Finally, green was preferred for the oriental red curry flavour. It would thus seem that the participants’ preferred colour did not match the dominant colour used on the packaging in the majority of cases, with the exception of vintage cheddar and onion chutney and, to some extent, roasted chicken and thyme, and Thai sweet chilli. 3.5. Shapes and patterns A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted in order to assess whether there were any differences between the ratings on the angular versus rounded shape scale for the 7 flavours. In this case, the variations in participants’ ratings did not reach statistical significance, F(6, 126) = 1.77, p = .110 (see Fig. 6). However, separate one-sample t tests with the test value set to 5 (the mid-point of the scale) were conducted. The mean rating for the sweet Thai chilli flavour was significantly different from the mid-point value, t(21) = 2.19, p = .040, thus showing that participants tended to associate the flavour with the angular shape. Similarly, the oriental red curry flavour induced a marginally significant preference for the angular shape, t(21) = 2.02, p = .056. A Monte-Carlo simulation of Fisher’s exact test was used to assess whether different types of Guilloché patterns were chosen for different flavours. The flavours did not significantly influence the
3.2. Pitch A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted in order to assess whether there were any differences between the average pitch matched to the seven flavours of crisps. The results indicated that the participants matched the seven flavours to pitch differently, F(6, 126) = 3.32, p = .005 (see Fig. 3). 3.3. Types of instruments A Monte-Carlo simulation of Fisher’s exact test was used in order to assess whether different types of instruments were chosen for different flavours. The results indicated that the flavours did not influence the instruments chosen p = .725, 99% CI .721–.728. Since pleasantness has been reported to be an important factor in the choice of instrument associated with a flavour (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b), the effect of the rating of pleasantness on the choice of instrument was examined. The pleasantness ratings were binned in three groups (1–3, 4–6, and 5–9 ratings). The choice of
Fig. 3. Mean pitch matched to each crisp flavour: Southern style barbecue (BBQ), roasted chicken and thyme (chicken), roasted tomato and aromatic spices (tomato), balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion (onion), Thai sweet chilli (chilli), vintage cheddar and onion chutney (cheddar), and oriental red curry (red curry). MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) note numbers were used to code the pitch of the chosen notes. Western musical scale notation is shown on the right-hand y-axis. Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval. Significant differences (post-hoc, Bonferroni-corrected t-tests, p < .05) are marked by an asterisk.
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Fig. 4. Choice of instrument as a function of the pleasantness ratings, binned into three categories (1-3: unpleasant, 4-6: indifferent, and 7-9: pleasant). The total count across categories is 154 (22 participants x 7 stimuli).
choice of pattern, p = .141, 99% CI .138–.144. This contrasts with recent results demonstrating associations between shapes and flavours (of beers, Deroy & Valentin, 2011), and shapes and odours (Seo et al., 2010). 3.6. Ratings A repeated-measures ANOVA was conducted in order to assess whether the seven flavours were rated differently in terms of their bitterness, saltiness, sourness, sweetness, complexity, intensity, and/or pleasantness. The results indicated that only the intensities of the seven flavours of crisps were rated differently by participants, F(6, 126) = 3.99, p = .001. The pitch, the ratings on the shape scale, as well as the 7 other ratings (complex, intense, pleasant, bitter, salty, sour, sweet), were subjected to principal components analysis (PCA). The suitability of this approach was assessed first. The correlation matrix revealed the presence of several coefficients above .3. The Kaiser–Meyer– Oklin value was .604, thus attaining the recommended value of .6 (Kaiser, 1970, 1974), and the Bartlett’s test of sphericity (Bartlett, 1954) reached statistical significance, supporting the factorability of the correlation matrix. PCA revealed the presence of three components with eigenvalues over 1, explaining 30.3%, 19.3%, and 14.4% of the variance, respectively. We decided to keep these three components, based on the inspection of the scree plot and results of parallel analysis (using the program Monte Carlo PCA for Parallel Analysis, developed by Marley Watkins, 2000), which demonstrated three components with eigenvalues exceeding the corresponding criterion values for a randomly generated data matrix of the same size (9 variables by 154 trials). Varimax rotation was performed. The first component contributed 29.7% of the total variance explained (63.9%), while the second and third components contributed 19.6% and 14.7%, respectively (see Fig. 7).
Fig. 6. Mean ratings on the shape scale (anchored with an angular and rounded shape) for each of the seven flavours: Southern style barbecue (BBQ), roasted chicken and thyme (chicken), roasted tomato and aromatic spices (tomato), balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion (onion), Thai sweet chilli (chilli), vintage cheddar and onion chutney (cheddar), and oriental red curry (red curry). Error bars represent the 95% confidence interval.
The main loadings on the first component were bitter (.764), sour (.751), intense (.708), complex (.679), and salty (.662). This suggests that the first component might represent the overall intensity of the taste. The second component had strong positive loadings of pleasant (.831) and sweet (.730), and thus probably represents pleasantness. Finally, the third component had a strong positive loading of pitch (.809), and a strong negative loading of the shape scale ( .705). The loadings of pitch on the first two components were both very weak ( 0.88 and .161), thus suggesting that the choice of pitch was not based on the intensity or pleasantness of the stimuli. The shape scale had weak loadings on the first two components ( .303, .339), suggesting that, while intensity and pleasantness might have played a role in the choice of shape, these factors are not enough to satisfactorily explain these choices. The shape scale had a very strong negative loading on the third component ( .705), suggesting that a common factor might underlie the choice of pitch and shape associated with the crisps.
4. Discussion The crisps used in the present study were very similar in terms of their appearance and texture. They were also rated by participants as being similar in terms of their complexity, pleasantness, bitterness, saltiness, sourness, and sweetness. The only rating that
Fig. 5. Choice of colour as a function of the flavour tasted. The total count per category is 22.
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A
B
C
Fig. 7. Two-dimensional projections of the loadings of the pitch and the various ratings on the rotated components extracted through principal components analysis (PCA). First and second components (A), second and third components (B), and first and third components (C).
varied significantly as a function of the variety of crisp was the intensity of the overall flavour. Despite this high degree of similarity, we found differences in the pitch and colour chosen to match the different flavours. It thus seems that variation in the intensity of basic tastes is not required to induce associations with pitch. Moreover, the choice of pitch was not linked to the intensity and pleasantness components found through PCA, suggesting that some other feature(s) of the stimuli drove the association with pitch. One such feature might be the odour of the crisps (either smelled orthonasally before consumption, or retronasally as a component of the overall flavour percept), since as expected from its slightly smoky odour, the southern style barbecue flavour was associated with the lowest pitch. The participants in the present study did not appear to make consistent associations between the flavours and instrument types. This might be due do the fact that the flavours of the crisps did not differ significantly in their pleasantness, as the choice of instrument has been shown to be influenced by the pleasantness of food stimuli (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b). Indeed, when the pleasantness ratings were considered independently from the flavours, the expected effect of the pleasantness ratings on the choice of instru-
ment was shown. It might thus not seem to have been relevant to include musical instruments in the design of the packaging of some of the flavours, at least not if the choice of instrument was meant to convey some information about the likely sensory-discriminative properties of the packaging’s contents. Specific colours were consistently matched to specific flavours. However, the choice of colour was highly influenced by the colour of the crisps themselves, as the preferred colours overall were yellow and orange (see Fig. 5). It is interesting to note that neither red oriental curry, nor roasted tomato and aromatic spices were associated with the colour red (but were associated instead with green and orange, respectively), suggesting that in these cases, the choice of colour was not based on the actual colour of the ingredients contributing to the flavour (cf. Demattè, Sanabria, & Spence, 2006). The colours that were chosen least frequently were white, black, blue, and grey (though note that strictly-speaking, black, white, and grey are not colours). It would thus seem that in order to induce the correct expectations in the minds of consumers, packaging designs should use the colours of the food item itself, and avoid colours that are rarely found in natural food products. It should be noted that the participants were not blindfolded when tasting the crisps, and might thus have been influenced by their colour. However, crisps would have been expected to be in the yelloworange range even without any visual information to confirm it. The associations between certain flavours and shapes, found previously for other food items (e.g., sparkling and still water, Spence & Gallace, 2011; chocolate varying in its cocoa content, Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011; and beers, Deroy & Valentin, 2011), were only found for two of the flavours used in the present study. One suggestion is that these crossmodal associations (or correspondences) might thus be based mostly on the texture of food item, a factor that varied minimally in the present study. Alternatively, it might be based on presence/strength of basic tastes (see Dichter, 1971; Spence & Ngo, in press; Spence, Ngo, Percival, & Smith, submitted) which, once again, did not differ much in this study. Range restriction (see, e.g., Kantowitz, Elmes, & Roediger, 2008, p. 42) might thus be responsible for some of the null results reported in the present study. The use of a wider range of food stimuli might be necessary in order to observe strong shape associations. Dichter, for example, suggested that people match sweetness with roundness, and angularity (specifically a triangular shape) with bitterness. Similarly, it was the variation in bitterness that correlated with angularity of shape chosen by participants in Ngo et al.’s recent study of chocolate that varied in its cocoa content. It would therefore be interesting in future research to explore more complex shapes, such as the patterns used in the present study, in relation to food items varying in both their texture and their basic tastes properties (cf. Deroy & Valentin, 2011; Seo et al., 2010). The number of participants in the present study was relatively small (22 participants) and might explain some of the non-significant results. However, a number of crossmodal associations have been demonstrated in recent studies based on a similar number of participants: odour-colour associations (Demattè et al., 2006; 21 participants); taste-shape associations (Ngo, Misra, & Spence, 2011; 22 participants); food-words associations (Gallace, Boschin, & Spence, 2011; 10 participants; flavour-musical notes associations (Crisinel & Spence, 2011; 22 participants). To summarise, the previously reported associations between basic tastes and pitch or shapes could not be confirmed due to the low variation of the stimuli in terms of basic tastes. However, the association of smoky odours with low-pitched notes was confirmed (Crisinel & Spence, 2012a). Moreover, the influence of pleasantness on the choice of instruments was again demonstrated (Crisinel & Spence, 2012b). With the possible exception of the Thai sweet chilli flavour, the stimuli presented on the crisps packaging were mostly crossmodally incongruent with
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