“Seeing taste”: How new vegetable colors and organic labels shape consumer taste expectations

Taste perception is a complex multisensory experience, with visual cues playing a critical role in shaping expectations. This study investigates how the expected taste (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and hot) of bell peppers in new colors – brown and purple – is influenced by the presence of quality labels: organic, local, or none. Using a between-subjects design, data were collected from an online sample of 396 Romanian consumers. A two-way MANOVA examined the interaction between pepper color and label condition on taste expectations. Findings reveal that consumers' expectations of taste vary significantly depending on pepper color. Moreover, the presence of an organic label moderates this effect. Specifically, when labeled organic, brown peppers are expected to have a more intense taste profile (sour, salty, bitter, and hot) than purple peppers. Interestingly, sweetness expectations were not influenced by color or label condition. The local label did not exhibit a moderating effect. These results offer valuable insights into how consumers interpret novel visual cues and quality labels. The findings have implications for public health and environmental policy, particularly in promoting plant-based diets, as well as for farmers and retailers who use color and labeling strategies to market fresh produce. • Examines new bell pepper color and label influence on consumer taste expectations. • Shows that different new bell pepper colors trigger distinct taste expectations. • Brown peppers prompt stronger sour, salty, bitter, and hot expectations than purple. • Organic labels moderate color effects on taste expectations; local labels do not. • Offers farmers and retailers insight to boost product appeal via color and labeling.