Emotions shape taste perception in a real restaurant environment

Can emotions make your drink taste sweeter, bitterer, or more sour? Previous laboratory studies show that incidental emotions – emotions that are unrelated to the situation at hand – can influence taste perception. For example, people who recall a happy memory before tasting food may find it sweeter than after recalling a sad memory. However, outside of the confines of the laboratory, little research has examined how integral emotions – emotions that are directly tied to the situation at hand – can be used to shape consumers’ experiences. We recruited 231 participants for a drink-tasting session at Copenhagen’s Alchemist restaurant, where dining is accompanied by a 360-degree immersive visual experience projected into a dome ceiling. Unbeknownst to the participants, there were only two different drinks (one kombucha and one water kefir) that participants tasted each twice, while immersive scenes designed to elicit positive or negative feelings were projected. Results showed that the same beverage tasted less sweet and more bitter and sour when accompanied by an unpleasant emotional scene. These findings demonstrate that emotions, when elicited as part of a real-world multisensory gastronomic experience, can shape our taste perceptions.