Does odour priming influence snack choice? - An eye-tracking study to understand food choice processes

An advance in novel intelligent sensory technologies: From an implicit-tracking perspective of food perception

Food sensory evaluation mainly includes explicit and implicit measurement methods. Implicit measures of consumer perception are gaining significant attention in food sensory and consumer science as they provide effective, subconscious, objective analysis. A wide range of advanced technologies are now available for analyzing physiological and psychological responses, including facial analysis technology, neuroimaging technology, autonomic nervous system technology, and behavioral pattern measurement. However, researchers in the food field often lack systematic knowledge of these multidisciplinary technologies and struggle with interpreting their results. In order to bridge this gap, this review systematically describes the principles and highlights the applications in food sensory and consumer science of facial analysis technologies such as eye tracking, facial electromyography, and automatic facial expression analysis, as well as neuroimaging technologies like electroencephalography, magnetoencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy. Furthermore, we critically compare and discuss these advanced implicit techniques in the context of food sensory research and then accordingly propose prospects. Ultimately, we conclude that implicit measures should be complemented by traditional explicit measures to capture responses beyond preference. Facial analysis technologies offer a more objective reflection of sensory perception and attitudes toward food, whereas neuroimaging techniques provide valuable insight into the implicit physiological responses during food consumption. To enhance the interpretability and generalizability of implicit measurement results, further sensory studies are needed. Looking ahead, the combination of different methodological techniques in real-life situations holds promise for consumer sensory science in the field of food research.

Effect of Scents on Gazing Behavior and Choice

Environmental stimuli can have a significant impact on our decisions. Elements of the store atmosphere, such as music, lights and smells, all have effects on choices, but these have been only vaguely investigated. In the present study, we aim to uncover the effect of strawberry scent on the gazing behavior and choices of the 62 recruited participants. A static eye-tracker was used to study the effect of scent, released by a diffuser. In total, 31 participants completed the study under odorless conditions, while another 31 participants had strawberry fragrance sprayed into the air. The objectives of the study were (1) to determine whether the most gazed-upon product in each of the four categories (chocolate, tea, muesli bar, yoghurt) was chosen, (2) whether the presence of the strawberry scent influenced consumer decision making, i.e., whether the strawberry scent influenced more people to choose strawberry-flavored products, and (3) to introduce the application of a fast and easy-to-use technique for the qualitative analysis of strawberry aroma present in the air during eye-tracking measurements. The results show that (1) participants chose the product they had studied the longest, for all four categories, and (2) the presence or absence of the scent had no significant effect on choice, with the same frequencies of choosing each product in the two conditions regardless of the flavor of the products.