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Have you ever heard of love languages? Well, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, there are five types of love languages, meaning there are five ways of expressing love. These include:
1) Words of Affirmation
2) Quality Time
3) Gifts
4) Acts of Service
5) Physical Touch
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Well, maybe just maybe, there are also eating languages!
Aside from taste, there can be other priorities when it comes to choosing food.
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It is possible that one is mainly attracted to food by its appetizing look.
Creative. Palatable. Irresistible.
Or maybe one enjoys the food the most when you hear its crunchy sound it makes inside the mouth?
Crunch. Crisp. Munch.
There is also that chance that people base their choice of food on its smell.
Aroma. Scent. Fragrant.
Lastly, one's eating language can be focused on touching the food,
just like the physical touch on the love language.
Intimate. Hands. Touch.
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So, why did I mention these things? These are the reasons.
For our study, our group has focused on the possible "touch" language of eating. The researchers hypothesize that tactile rituals enhances flavor perception. It specifically investigates the effects of the ritual of breaking crackers on perceived flavor. Also, the study is interested not only on the perception that comes from the one eating and performing the ritual. The investigators looks into the judgment of people who are just observing the eating and ritualistic behavior through a one way mirror.
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Studying the effects of ritual on food-related behaviors has been previously studied. One of which is done by Gino, Norton, Wang and Vohs (2013). It supports the idea that ritualistic behaviors do enhance consumption experience of food. From here, the experimenters modify some aspects, like the measurement of flavor and context of an observer. Moreover, it focuses on the effects of tactile rituals.
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According to Goldstein (2010), perception is a complex process wherein the senses do not work in isolation. Instead, they work together. This is the reason why as the experimenters study flavor perception, as defined as the overall impression that we experience from the combination of nasal and oral stimulation by Lawless (2001, as cited in Goldstein, 2013), there is still an inclusion of another sensory modality, touch. This means that there is that goal to discover more related relationships that will improve the eating experience through flavor enhancement.
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Now, maybe you are thinking what is the significance of this kind of research.
Well, today, and even in the past and probably in the future, food market has been a very strong phenomenon. Food is readily accessible. Just think of these.
Delivery through phone and now, even Internet.
Drive-thru. Take-out.
Food Porn on social networking sites.
Food, food everywhere.
In fact, with these being said, it seems that our society is obsessed with food. Moreover, it needs to be stated that many people look forward in eating not because of survival reason. Instead, it is about the anticipated and actual pleasure it brings (Goldstein, 2013).
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As you can see, food businesses need to be competitive. If they would want to make it successful, they must do things that will make their food taste delicious and even enhance it to the optimal level.
And since, advertising seems to be a key answer in promoting the product,
the results of the study may have great implications on how they will do it.
Why? This research does not only deal with the actual eaters.
They are also interested in the perspective of the observers. If the research shows that there is a significant increase in the perceived enhancement of the flavor perception due to tactile rituals, advertisers may incorporate such strategies in their commercials. Well, aside from the benefits that it will bring to the company, just think about the personal satisfaction of the consumers.
After all, maybe the secret of the delicious Oreos may rely on the ritual of twist, lick and dunk. :)
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===TRAZO GAEA ISABEL D.===
References
Goldstein, E.B. (2010). Sensation and perception (8th ed). Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.
http://marriage.about.com/cs/communicationkeys/a/lovelanguage.htm
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