Influence of package design on the dynamics of multisensory and emotional food experience

During the various stages of user–product interactions, different sensory modalities may be important and different emotional responses may be elicited. We investigated how a dehydrated food product was experienced at different stages of product usage: choosing a product on a supermarket shelf, opening a package, cooking and eating the food. At the buying stage, vision was the most important modality, followed by taste. Smell was dominant at the cooking stage, and taste was the most important sensation while eating the food. Analysis of the emotional dynamics showed that ratings for satisfaction and pleasant surprise tended to be lowest during the buying stages. Fascination and boredom ratings tended to decrease gradually over the course of the experiment. Comments mostly reflected responses to sensory qualities, usability aspects, and the nature of the product. At the purchase stage, pre-existing attitudes and stereotypes towards the product group seemed to play a major role in affective reactions, while in the other stages when other modalities were actively involved, participants’ emotional judgements reflected mainly their direct sensory experience.

► We investigate how consumers experience dehydrated food at five usage stages.
► The effect of vision dominated during buying, smell during cooking, and taste during eating.
► Satisfaction and pleasant surprise were lowest during buying stages.
► Pre-existing attitudes and stereotypes seemed to determine affective reactions at purchase.
► In the other stages, emotional judgements reflected participants’ sensory experience more.