Effects of multisensory context on tofu and soy sauce evaluation and consumption

We examined the effects of informative pitch and multisensory contexts as potential factors influencing individuals’ affective and sensory experience of tofu with soy sauce and the amount consumed in a setting outside the lab. 216 participants watched one of two pitches, either promoting vegetarian diets or promoting exercise. Subsequently, the participants were guided into one of three multisensory contexts. These were designed following a ‘sustainable’, ‘meat’, or ‘neutral’ theme, with matching objects, odor, and music. A cup of soy sauce was served with four pieces of tofu. Participants rated the aroma and appearance of soy sauce, and the taste of tofu dipped in soy sauce using the ‘EmojiGrid’ valence (pleasantness) and arousal measuring tool on a smartphone that allows for quick and intuitive ratings. We hypothesized that the vegetarian pitch and sustainable context would increase both the positive ratings of tofu and soy sauce and the number of tofu pieces consumed. Our results showed that the ‘meat’ context increased arousal rating on soy sauce and tofu, and a tendency to consume more tofu relative to the other contexts. Pitch did not influence affective ratings or amount consumed. We conclude that multisensory context has the potential to positively affect food choice and perception, and discuss which elements of the multisensory context were likely drivers of the found effect.