Temperature of served water can modulate sensory perception and acceptance of food

The serving temperature effect: Food temperature, expected satiety, and complementary food purchases

We show that the temperature at which foods and beverages are served impacts consumers' complementary purchases, defined as additional foods and beverages purchased for a consumption episode. Across a series of studies, including field studies and controlled laboratory experiments, we show that consumers choose more complementary food items when they consume or intend to consume a food or beverage served cold rather than hot. This occurs because cold consumables are expected to be less satiating compared to hot consumables. Serving temperatures that increase complementary purchasing may enhance the firm's bottom line, but could add unnecessary calories to the meal, and thus is of interest to both consumers and managers.

Cross-Modal Correspondences Between Temperature and Taste Attributes

Temperature is an important characteristic of food and drink. In addition to food-intrinsic temperature (i.e., serving temperature), consumers often experience food-extrinsic temperature (e.g., physical warmth). Emerging research on cross-modal correspondence has revealed that people reliably associate temperature with other sensory features. Building on the literature on cross-modal correspondence and sensation transference theory, the present study aimed to reveal mental representations of temperature–taste correspondence and cross-modal mental representations influencing corresponding sensory/hedonic perceptions of beverages, with a focus on manipulating food-extrinsic warmth. To reveal mental representations of temperature–taste correspondence, Experiment 1 investigated whether temperature words (warm, cool) are associated with sensory/hedonic attributes (e.g., sweet, sour, salty, bitter). The results of Experiment 1 demonstrated that warm (vs. cool) was matched more with saltiness, tastiness, healthfulness, and preference (intention to buy), whereas cool (vs. warm) was matched more with sourness and freshness. Experiment 2 assessed whether cross-modal mental representations influence corresponding sensory/hedonic perceptions of beverages. The participants wore hot and cold pads and rated sensory/hedonic attributes of Japanese tea (Experiment 2a) or black coffee (Experiment 2b) before and after tasting it. The results of Experiment 2a demonstrated that physical warmth (vs. coldness) increased healthfulness and the intention to buy Japanese tea. The results of Experiment 2b did not reveal any effects of physical warmth on sensory/hedonic ratings. These findings provide evidence of taste–temperature correspondence and provide preliminary support for the influence of food-extrinsic warmth on taste attributes related to positivity.