Imagined salad and steak restaurants: Consumers’ colour, music and emotion associations with different dishes

The aim of the present study was to examine people׳s colour, music and emotion associations with dishes from two imagined restaurants. We conducted an experiment where we asked two study-participant groups to match interior colours, background music and desired emotional states for either a salad restaurant or a steak restaurant. To evoke associations we used two dish photos – a salad and a steak dish. The hypothesis was that the study participants would choose different background music and colours for different imagined restaurants. The results show that the most often selected colour, music and musically evoked and desired emotions in the salad group were Kiwi (lime colour) combined with Jazz, Pop and Soul music, and Peacefulness and Joyful Activation. In the steak group the selections were Bordeaux (dark-red colour) combined with Jazz and Classical music, and Peacefulness, Transcendence, Tenderness and Joyful Activation. The results were discussed in terms of articulation theory that is widely used in critical cultural studies. The differences between the groups showed that the study participants made different kinds of articulations: the answers in the steak group emphasized romantic classical music and luxury, while the salad group emphasized vital (healthy food, dancing) and hedonistic (joy, pleasure) values. The results indicate that: (1) generally people value peaceful eating environments; (2) people choose different visual and auditory stimuli for an eating environment depending on the food menu; and (3) customers, in this case, expect a connection to their previous cultural experiences with salad and steak restaurants.