Emotional Response to Food Flavor and Its Application in Food Products

Emotion research has gained renewed attention in the marketing and advertising fields as a critical tool to predict consumer choice behavior. The concepts of food and emotion are inseparable, and flavor determines consumer food intake and the likelihood of repeated consumption. Even so, the exact relationship between flavor properties of a food and emotion remains underexplored. The emotions that flavor can bring to the consumer will be covered in this chapter in terms of aromatics, basic tastes, and trigeminal sensations. Foods that bring conflicting emotions to the consumer will also be reviewed. Additionally, cutting-edge applications of this emotion concept in various developed food products (e.g., beverage, dairy, and snacks) will be discussed. These applications and concepts are aimed toward increasing consumer health and wellness via the flavor-driven positive emotions elicited in sugar-reduced, salt-reduced, nutrient-fortified, and alcohol-free products. Future directions regarding emotion research will additionally be suggested.