What makes products fresh: The smell or the colour?

Freshness is important for food products, beverages personal care products and cleaning products. In the present study we used an experimental approach to investigate sensory dominance in the product experience of freshness. We created products (soft drinks, dishwashing liquids, and scented candles) using fresh and non-fresh stimuli (colours and smells) in four different combinations and asked respondents to evaluate the freshness and pleasantness of each product. The results demonstrated that smell dominated the judgments of freshness for soft drinks and dishwashing liquids. However, for scented candles smell and colour were equally important in determining freshness. This suggests that the dominant sensory modality for the product experience of freshness depends on the characteristics of the particular product.