Effects of commensality condition on food perception and ingestive behavior

Sharing meals together, or commensality, is a practice shared by all cultures around the world. Commensality can induce social facilitation and subsequently influence an individual’s dietary choice and meal intake. Meanwhile, the effect of commensality on food liking or sensory perception has not been studied extensively. While physical commensality is already a common occurrence, the recent COVID-19 pandemic has imposed strict social distancing protocols to limit the spread of the virus, making digital commensalism a popular option to virtually gather together via video conference applications. Currently, there is limited information regarding the effects of digital commensality on consumption experience and food sensory perception. Thus, this study was designed to examine how the medium of social presence (physical versus digital) can influence consumption experience. Twenty-eight co-habituating pairs, composed of 56 healthy participants (29 females) ranging from 19 to 61 years old (mean age = 37 years), evaluated meals on three separate days under randomized conditions: (1) physically together, (2) digitally together, and (3) alone, at their respective places of residence under the virtual supervision of the researchers. Participants rated attribute intensities and hedonic impressions of the meal items on 9-point categorical scales, as well as meal items-evoked emotions using EsSense® terms following a Check-All-That-Apply (CATA) procedure. The results showed that, as participants consumed the same meal item three times over the three weeks, their hedonic impression on flavor or texture aspects of the meal item decreased. Participants were also found to spend more time in consuming meals when they ate the meals together than when they ate alone. Overall impression of the meal items was also found to vary with social presence. In conclusion, our findings showed the potential influence of commensality (or the presence of others) on meal evaluations.