Sounds and Snacks

Switch on the Classical and Jazz if you’re trying to eat healthy!  Motoki and colleagues probe links between sounds heard and food preferences.  They found that when “participants rated their preferences for each of several options (healthy savoury, indulgent savoury, healthy sweet, indulgent sweet) while listening to one of four music genres (Jazz, Classical, Rock/Metal, and Hip-hop). The results of the two experiments consistently demonstrated that the effects of background music on food preferences were dependent on the interaction between music genre, food type (healthy vs. indulgent), and taste/flavour (sweet vs. savoury).

Crucially, listening to Jazz and Classical music increased people’s preferences for healthy savoury foods (e.g., vegetable sandwich) as compared with Rock/Metal music. Listening to Rock/Metal, Hip-hop, and Jazz music increased people’s preferences for indulgent savoury foods (e.g., a beef sandwich) as compared with Classical music. Additionally, listening to Classical music increased people’s preferences for both healthier (e.g., low-fat milk) and indulgent (e.g., milk chocolate) sweet foods as compared with the other musical genres.”

For additional information on using design to encourage healthy eating, read this article.

Kosuke Motoki, Nozomi Takahashi, Carlos Velasco, and Charles Spence.  “Is Classical Music Sweeter Thank Jazz?  Crossmodal Influences of Background Music and Taste/Flavour on Healthy and Indulgent Food Preferences.”  Food Quality and Preference, in press, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104380