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Article
Publication date: 1 January 2021

Liwei Hsu and Yen-Jung Chen

Visual stimulation affects the taste of food and beverages. This study aimed to understand how latte art affects coffee consumption by collecting participants' brainwave data and…

893

Abstract

Purpose

Visual stimulation affects the taste of food and beverages. This study aimed to understand how latte art affects coffee consumption by collecting participants' brainwave data and their taste responses.

Design/methodology/approach

Seventy subjects participated in a two-stage experiment. Electroencephalography (EEG) was employed to measure brainwave activity. With an interval of one week, each stage involved coffee consumption with and without latte art. The responses to the taste of the coffee were also collected for analysis.

Findings

Significant differences were found in the participants' alpha and beta brainwave bands. When drinking coffee with latte art, the participants' alpha bands were significantly lower, whereas the beta bands were higher. These findings were supported by Bayesian statistics. A significant increase was found in the participants' taste of sweetness and acidity with latte art, and Bayesian statistics confirmed the results for sweetness although the evidence on the increase in acidity was anecdotal. No difference was found in the taste of bitterness.

Originality/value

This study highlights the effect of latte art on coffee consumption. The authors analysed the empirical evidence from this two-stage experimental study in the form of the participants' brainwave data and their responses to taste. This study's original contribution is that it explored the crossmodal effects of latte art on consumers' taste of coffee from a neuroscientific perspective. The results of this study can provide empirical evidence on how to effectively use latte art in practical business environments.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 123 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

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Article
Publication date: 3 June 2024

Dang Thuan An Nguyen and Liwei Hsu

As humans are influenced by their environment, this study explores how different construal levels of ambient scent temperature affect consumers’ food choices.

226

Abstract

Purpose

As humans are influenced by their environment, this study explores how different construal levels of ambient scent temperature affect consumers’ food choices.

Design/methodology/approach

This study employed a series of experimental methods from three studies, totalling five experiments. The experiments involved both laboratory and field settings, as well as neuroscientific techniques, thus generating empirical evidence.

Findings

Three studies were conducted to investigate how construal levels of both ambient scent temperature and tasks influenced food choice. Study 1 found that the construal level of ambient scent temperature significantly affected the type of food consumed. Study 2 included the task’s construal level as another factor to examine whether it interacted with the ambient scent temperature construal level. Both factors were significant, but only when perceived by the participants simultaneously. If the task’s construal level was manipulated before exposure to the ambient scent temperature, the latter did not have a significant effect. Study 3 employed a neuroscientific method to explore the mechanism behind the match between ambient scent temperature and food choices based on construal levels. The congruence of ambient scent temperature and food choice based on construal level enhanced positive emotions.

Research limitations/implications

The sample size, although in line with other neuroscientific studies, was not sufficiently large for robust generalizability. This limitation can encourage future research to increase the number of participants and thus enhance the accountability of the findings. Another limitation is the participants’ cultural background.

Practical implications

This study’s practical implications are twofold. First, odour intensity was perceived to be the strongest in hot samples (Kähkönen et al., 1995), and we confirmed how ambient scent temperature can influence one’s food choice. Thus, food business operators can use warm ambient scent temperatures to promote hedonic food or snacks. Second, participants’ positive emotions were enhanced by the congruence of ambient scent temperature and food choice.

Social implications

The association between ambient scent temperature and food choice has been extensively researched. However, this study provides an empirical explanation for the application of CLT. Accordingly, we performed a series of laboratory and field experiments using behavioural and neuroscientific approaches. The results confirmed that the construal level of ambient scent temperature significantly affected food choice. Moreover, the FAA revealed that one’s positive emotions would be prompted if there was congruence in the construal levels of ambient scent temperature and food choice.

Originality/value

This study has theoretical and managerial value because people’s poor understanding of food selection is affected by ambient scent temperature. Moreover, its novelty lies in the application of a neuroscientific approach to one experiment.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 126 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 24 September 2019

Liwei Hsu and Yen-jung Chen

Music has a priming effect on product selection. The purpose of this paper is to extend the current understanding on this issue using an experimental design incorporating…

10001

Abstract

Purpose

Music has a priming effect on product selection. The purpose of this paper is to extend the current understanding on this issue using an experimental design incorporating behavioural and brainwave data.

Design/methodology/approach

An experiment with 40 participants was conducted to explore how and why wine tasting preferences would be primed by different genres of musical stimuli. Electroencephalographic measurement was adopted to measure participant brainwave activity in two experiments, each involving two rounds of wine tasting, and the treatment was administered between the two rounds.

Findings

Significant associations between the musical stimulus genre and participant change in wine selection were found, and the musical stimuli resulted in different brainwave activities because participant β and γ wave activities significantly differed in the first and second wine tasting rounds. Correlational analyses indicated that α, β and γ wave activities generated by the musical stimuli were significantly but negatively correlated with α wave activity. α wave activity in the musical stimulus phases was significantly negatively correlated with β wave activity in the second round of wine tasting, and the other associations were significant and positive.

Originality/value

This study highlighted the priming effect of musical stimuli in wine tasting. Empirical evidence derived from experimental research was analysed with behavioural and brainwave data. This study’s original contribution is that it explored wine tasting preferences from a neuromarketing perspective. The results of this study can provide empirical evidence on how to effectively use music in marketing strategies.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Available. Open Access. Open Access
Article
Publication date: 16 October 2017

Haiju Hu, Ramdane Djebarni, Xiande Zhao, Liwei Xiao and Barbara Flynn

Using the combined theoretical umbrella of organizational legitimacy theory, service-dominant logic, fairness heuristic theory and two-factor theory, the purpose of this paper is…

5147

Abstract

Purpose

Using the combined theoretical umbrella of organizational legitimacy theory, service-dominant logic, fairness heuristic theory and two-factor theory, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the effectiveness of different food recall strategies (recall proactiveness and compensation) in terms of both how consumers react (perceived organizational legitimacy and purchase intention) and how recall norms would influence the effectiveness in three countries. In addition to the reporting of important results, this paper provides implications for food companies to handle effectively the recalls, especially when the recalls are cross-country.

Design/methodology/approach

A 2 compensation (high vs low) ×2 recall strategy (proactive vs passive) scenario experiment was conducted in Hong Kong, the USA and Mainland China. After checking the effectiveness of manipulation, the paper tested the main effect and interaction effect of recall proactiveness and compensation on perceived organizational legitimacy and purchase intention. In addition, the mediating effect of perceived organizational legitimacy between recall strategies and purchase intention was also tested.

Findings

Significant main effect, interaction and mediation effect were found across the three countries with a different pattern. For the USA and Mainland China which have strong recall norms, the interaction found followed the predictions of the two-factory theory. However, the pattern found in Hong Kong, which has weak recall norms, followed the predictions of the fairness heuristic theory. Full mediation effect of perceived organizational legitimacy between compensation and purchase intention was found in the USA and Mainland China, while it was only partial in Hong Kong. For the mediation between proactiveness and purchase intention, full mediation was found in Hong Kong and the USA, while it was only partial in Mainland China.

Originality/value

First, this study differentiated food recall strategy into two dimensions – recall proactiveness and compensation. Second, this study tested the applicability of two-factor theory and fairness heuristic theory in recalls by testing the competing hypotheses proposed according to the two theories. Finally, this study can further help our understanding of the recall effectiveness across different recall norms.

Details

Industrial Management & Data Systems, vol. 117 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-5577

Keywords

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Article
Publication date: 8 April 2020

Jiangnan Qiu, Liwei Xu, Min Zuo, Jingxian Wang and Weadon Helen

Online knowledge integration has been an important concern of the online knowledge community as it can lead to various positive outcomes of online knowledge coproduction. This…

391

Abstract

Purpose

Online knowledge integration has been an important concern of the online knowledge community as it can lead to various positive outcomes of online knowledge coproduction. This paper identifies online knowledge integration factors by considering group heterogeneity and group interaction process.

Design/methodology/approach

Based on the categorization-elaboration model (CEM) and interactive team cognition (ITC) theory, a research model that reflects the antecedent's factors and mediating factors of online knowledge integration was developed and empirically examined based on data collected from 2,339,836 data extracted from Wikipedia.

Findings

Group interaction process plays an essential mediator role in online knowledge integration. Group knowledge heterogeneity negatively influences online knowledge integration and group experience heterogeneity positively, and they both positively promote online knowledge integration through group interaction process with different paths.

Research limitations

Our research concerns the OKC context in one setting (Wikipedia). We expect that the results will generalize to other OKC platforms.

Practical implications

The findings of the study could assist the online knowledge community's organizers to understand the motivational mechanisms of online knowledge integration. Group interaction process could be regarded as the key role to promote group wisdom and maintain group independence.

Social implications

We advance the understanding of the online knowledge integration and gain a richer understanding of the importance of group interaction independence for online knowledge integration based on the agreement of group wisdom. It suggested keeping group interaction independence is an important aspect for highly online knowledge integration among heterogeneity groups.

Originality/value

This study extends CEM and ITC theory to the domain of knowledge integration context and finds the mechanism between group heterogeneity and online knowledge integration by introducing the group interaction process.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 34 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

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