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RESEARCH PRODUCT

Are odors efficient primes to induce relevant food choices?

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International audience; Studies in cognitive psychology have revealed the non-conscious influences that a cue can have on thinking and doing. Our study explored the impact of an olfactory food cue on food choices. Two fruity odors were chosen as olfactory food cues to examine the impact on consumers’ food choices. In Experiment 1, 58 participants were randomly assigned to either a control or a melon-scent condition. In the latter, they were exposed unobtrusively to a melon odorant in a waiting room, while in the control condition the room was non-odorized. Following this, all participants performed a lexical decision task and a task involving choice from a menu in a dedicated test room. The results showed: (1) participants in the melon-scent condition answered faster only for the word 'melon' in comparison with other tested words, (2) these participants were more likely than control participants to choose starters with vegetables, but not main courses or desserts with fruit and vegetables. 70 participants took part in Experiment 2. This experiment replicated the same protocol, but using a pear odorant as the cue. The results showed that participants in the pear-scent condition were significantly more likely than those in the control condition to choose desserts with fruits, but not starters or main courses with vegetables. These results indicate that the non-conscious perception of a fruity odor may activate a 'fruit and vegetables' concept, but also a concept of the context of consumption. Moreover, they support the idea of priming effects 'specific to a food cue'.