Color and Flavor Perception

Abstract

Color is a critical element in how people perceive products and can affect the decision-making process, and it is also known to be an element that influences the perception of taste and flavor. People associate colors with flavors; therefore, natural color can be an indicator of food flavors. Our experiments began several years ago with children and adults within the context of snack packaging. In this study, we removed the context of food packaging and children as audience members, focusing only on color itself within an adult population.

This study investigates five colors used in the market with computer-generated color palettes to review relationships between: color and flavor, preferred color to eat, perception of healthier color, and whether favorite colors influence individual’s eating selections. In this study, four questions were given, with five colors options. The following questions were asked: 1) Rank the color you prefer to eat, 2) Identify flavors that you associate with the color, 3) Rank the color you think is healthier to eat, and 4) Rank your favorite colors.

As a research method, an online survey was distributed to a university community. The data analyzed 804 adults’ responses. Respondents ages 18 to 65+ participated in the online survey. Red is the most selected color as the first choice to eat, followed by blue, green, yellow, and pink. Green is selected most often as the healthiest color expectation, followed by yellow, red, blue, and pink. Blue was chosen as the overall preferred color, followed by green, yellow, pink, and red. This study will additionally report the color association with flavors and correlations among the age group, gender, and ethnicity.