Abstract:

Sensory cues, including color, flavor, and taste, significantly influence individuals' perception of food healthiness and their choice of healthy foods. Digital marketing has presented an abundance of new application scenarios for food-related sensory factors. However, traditional classifications of sensory factors do not fully capture the variety of food sensory perceptions in today's technology-driven context. Therefore, we propose segmenting food sensory factors into four categories, based on distance of detection (distant vs. proximal) and source of experience (direct vs. indirect). These categories are: distant-direct, distant-indirect, proximal-direct, and proximal-indirect sensory factors. This paper first outlines the differing influences of the primary sensory characteristics within these four categories on perceptions of food healthiness and the choice of healthy foods. Distant sensory factors chiefly involve visual and external sound cues related to food. Our focus is on the visual features of food, such as color, shape, aesthetic properties, sound cues from food preparation for direct visual experiences, and elements like food packaging visuals/digital visuals and packaging sounds for indirect experiences. The intent is to summarize the effects of these visual and auditory sensory cues on the perception of food healthiness and the choice of healthy food. Proximal sensory factors, on the other hand, primarily include tactile, olfactory, gustatory, and internal sound cues. These can be further classified into direct experiences of food touch, smell, taste, and chewing sounds, and imagined or digitally simulated experiences. The paper then discusses how these factors shape consumers' perceptions of food healthiness and their choices of healthy food. The paper’s secondary focus is the mechanisms through which different types of food sensory factors influence perceptions and choices around healthy food. For distant sensory factors, direct and indirect experiences mainly operate through mental simulation and cognitive processing mechanisms. Meanwhile, proximal sensory factors primarily functioning through physiological arousal, brain rewards, emotions, and memory, though indirect factors still employ mental simulation mechanisms. Finally, this paper sheds light on boundary moderation mechanisms, showing how sensory processing traits, sensory stimuli exposure scenarios, and indirect experience scenarios moderate the relationship between food sensory factors and psychological mechanisms, and how food types and individual characteristics can moderate the relationship between psychological mechanisms, and the perceptions of food healthiness and choice. The contributions of our research are threefold: First, it deepens the sensory marketing theory. Current studies often classify sensory factors according to physiological senses without taking into account the difference in distance at which different sensory organs detect stimuli. This limitation makes it difficult to capture the commonality of psychological experiences across distant and proximal senses. As digital technologies have become widespread, virtual sensory experiences are now common, yet current research does not sufficiently factor in sensory factors and sensory experience scenarios. We counter this by reclassifying sensory factors based on sensory detection distance and experience scenarios. By comparing and discussing the different influence mechanisms of the four categories of sensory factors identified, we provide a novel framework for future sensory research. Second, our research advances the field of healthy food marketing. Existing research primarily focuses on how to encourage consumers to choose healthy foods, relying on cues such as food labels and health claims. In contrast, we believe that the sensory factors of food, particularly those of the food itself, are more effective in activating consumers' automatic psychological processes and imaginations. We clarify the influences and mechanisms of sensory factors on consumers’ perceptions of food healthiness and choice, thereby fostering an understanding of the mechanisms that drive consumers to choose healthy foods. Lastly, our research enriches our understanding of consumer experiences in today's technology-infused environment. As consumers continually switch between real and virtual sensory experiences, our research builds on consumer experiences in traditional marketing environments and emphasizes the importance of considering both direct and indirect experience scenarios. In helping marketers better understand the psychology and behavior of modern, digital consumers, we aid the promotion of immersive, digital, sensory experiences.

Key words: distal food sensory factors, proximal food sensory factors, direct experience, indirect experience