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Does a beautiful environment make food better – The effect of environmental aesthetics on food perception and eating intention
Beautiful environments provide a coveted dining ambiance. Research has demonstrated the influence of the surrounding environment on personal food perceptions, however, the evidence on the impact of environmental aesthetics remains insufficient. Wu et al. (2022) conducted two experiments to evaluate this concept. In their first experiment, study participants were asked to evaluate the olfactory, visual, and taste of food presented in images, coupled with photographs representing a restaurant (1a) and a non-restaurant (1b) environment (high or low aesthetics). Analysis of participant ratings showed substantial elevation in all sensory modality ratings coupled with the high aesthetic environment, coupled with increased appetite and positive affect. In their second experiment, the authors applied a similar approach to physical environments (high and low aesthetics) and provided the participants with food. Similarly, the participants reported increased gustatory and olfactory scores, in addition to reports on participants’ desire to dine in the high aesthetic environment again, compared to the low aesthetic environment. The authors comment that their results demonstrate the impact of environmental aesthetics on food perceptions, and the role emotions play in the links between them. The authors conclude that their research helps shed light on methods to improve the positive perception of food. [NPID: Desire to eat, emotion, environmental aesthetic value, food perception]
Year: 2022
