Impact of an olfactory and auditory priming on the attraction towards foods with high energy density

Introduction: Recent research in food science suggests that unconscious processes may influence a significant part of consumers’ food choices. Studies of Gaillet and collaborators (Gaillet, Sulmont-Rossé, Issanchou, Chabanet, Chambaron, 2013; 2014) demonstrated that non-attentively perceived fruity odours impact food choice, guiding participants toward items containing more fruit and/or vegetables. Objectives: The first objective is to determine if another kind of odour, such as a sweet-fatty odour, could increase food choices towards high energy density foods. The second objective is to compare the effect of an olfactory cue to the effect of an auditory nutritional message.