Assessing crossmodal correspondences in exotic fruit juices: The case of shape and sound symbolism

We report a series of experiments designed to investigate shape and sound symbolism, or what is sometimes referred to as crossmodal correspondences, in a range of commercial fruit pulps/juices. In the experiments reported here, British and Colombian participants tasted a number of fruit juices (including pineapple, lulo, guanabana, passion fruit, mango and feijoa) before filling in a series of pencil-and-paper line scales. The results revealed that those juices that were considered sweet and low in sourness were consistently matched with rounder shapes and speech sounds, sounds with a lower pitched, and were generally liked more. Meanwhile, those juices that were rated as tasting sour were consistently matched with angular shapes, sharper speech sounds, sounds with a higher pitch, and were liked less. These results have a number of potentially important implications for the packaging and labeling of fruit juices, especially in those countries where the fruit juices may currently be unfamiliar to consumers.

► Shape and sound symbolism for familiar and unfamiliar fruit juices.
► Juices sweet and low in sourness matched with rounded shapes and words and low pitch.
► Juices high in sourness matched with sharp shapes and words and high pitch.
► Product naming, labeling, and branding should consider crossmodal correspondences.