Contribution to understanding odour–colour associations

Whereas odour–colour correspondences seem to be evident in everyday life, little research has attempted to investigate associations between colours and odours over the last decade. Nonetheless, some previous studies have demonstrated the existence of robust associations between specific odours (mainly fragrances) and colours (see Demattè et al., 2006, Gilbert et al., 1996 and Schifferstein and Tanudjaja, 2004). Here, we extended these findings to mainly food and drink related odours. Furthermore, testing was conducted with similar odours, which allowed us to better understand the nuances of the association. In the experiment, 155 untrained French subjects were first presented with 16 food and flower natural odorants and asked to select from among 24 colours the one that best matched each given olfactory stimulus. Secondly, they rated each odour according to five descriptors (association difficulty, intensity, familiarity, pleasantness and edibility). Participants matched olfactory stimuli with colours in a non-random manner. Indeed, significant colour characterizations were found for all odours. Significant differences in colour choice were also reported between very similar odours. These results confirm the existence of consistent odour–colour associations; and explore more precisely their subtleties. This underlines the need for a better understanding of the mechanisms underlying these crossmodal correspondences.

► Untrained subjects smelled natural food odourants and matched them with colours.
► The observed colour–odour associations deviated from an equal distribution.
► Significant differences in colour choice were reported between similar odours.