Food expected naturalness: Impact of visual, tactile and auditory packaging material properties and role of perceptual interactions

Previous research exploring the impact of consumer expectations induced by packaging on food perception was mainly focussed on visual cues (e.g. written communication, pictures, shape) but few studies were dedicated to the role of tactile and sound properties. In the present study we selected a range of different materials and the first objective was to validate the sensory diversity of the materials and to obtain a sensory characterization by performing a descriptive analysis with a trained panel. The second objective was to explore the contribution of visual, tactile and auditory packaging material properties on expected naturalness for a dehydrated soup and to understand the role of sensory interactions between visual, tactile and auditory sensory modalities. For this purpose 120 consumers rated their expectation for naturalness of the food based on packaging material evaluation conducted under two test conditions: (1) a ‘unimodal’ condition whereby consumers assessed separately the visual, tactile and auditory stimuli from the materials; and (2) a ‘trimodal’ condition whereby consumers simultaneously assessed the visual, tactile and auditory stimuli from the materials. The third objective was to identify material sensory characteristics of naturalness impacting consumer food naturalness expectation. Our finding demonstrated that expected food naturalness was impacted not only by visual cues, as already widely demonstrated in the literature but also by tactile and to a lesser extent by auditory cues. Roughness, suppleness and low sound intensity were the material sensory characteristics impacting expected food naturalness. Results did not demonstrate perceptual interactions between visual, auditory and tactile stimulations on expected naturalness. This may suggest that information from the three different perceptual systems may be redundant so it might not have any added-value for integration. Further research should be performed in a shopping environment with package prototypes developed following our findings to confirm the role of tactile and auditory perception in food packaging experience.