A
A new study from Penn State confirms longstanding research into the relationship between color and taste. What consumers see when they eat matters as much—if not more—than what they taste.
Researchers gave participants different colors of liquid with different tastes— including bitter, sweet, savory(香薄荷)and sour. Participants then tried clear liquids with the same tastes, and they were asked to associate them with a color.
Researchers found these associations are easy to learn, and ones that are currently common — like red for sweet or yellow for sour — may not be set in stone. Six in 10 study participants learned new color-flavor pairings after four exposures.
What consumers expect when they see a food prepares themselves to taste certain flavors. The strong associations between color and flavor are well established in scientific community. Branding, packaging and color quality of the product itself play a big part in creating and maintaining expectations. Food brands have long understood this and worked to establish standards. They rely on visual expectations to pull customers into unfamiliar product. In some cases, color can overpower other senses and convince people they taste flavors that aren’t there.
The Penn State researchers set out to test if they could teach color-taste correlations, and found the linkages could be more flexible than many thought in some cases.
“This might have suggestions in the food industry if a company were to launch a new flavored product with a color. Some consumers might not learn or accept a new color and flavor pairing as well as others, ” Penn State food sciences doctoral candidate Molly J. Higgins said in a written statement.
Although it may be possible to totally change food colors, it may not be advisable. According to this study, 40% of consumers would be left behind, stuck on familiar patterns. That’s a big gamble for food brands to take. Consumers tend to want to know what they’re in for when they select a product—and color is a big part of that. While it’s interesting that consumer expectations for colors could shift, the risk of unexpected colors is high for any company.
【文章大意】本文是说明文, 介绍一项研究成果: 颜色和味道之间的关系。长久以来, 人们普遍会把不同的颜色与不同的味道联系起来, 但研究也发现颜色和香味的联系也是可以通过强化打破的。基于此论, 一些品牌和厂家会根据需求选择适合自己产品的颜色来吸引顾客, 但不要轻易尝试改变人们对固有食物的颜色, 那样会失去相当一部分顾客。
1. What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 3 mean?
A. Different people have different color-taste match.
B. Even some common associations can be changed.
C. Common associations once set can not be changed.
D. The current associations are recorded in the stone.
【解析】选B。句意理解题。根据第三段第一句前半句知ones代替的是上文的associations, 最后一句“Six in 10 study participants learned new color-flavor pairings after four exposures. ”研究中10个参与者中就有6个人在四次接触后学习了新的颜色与味道的搭配, 据此可知上句的may not be set in stone应该是可以改变的, 即不是一成不变的。
2. What does the fourth paragraph imply?
A. Branding and packaging are more important.
B. Color can not influence the taste of a new food.
C. People can believe their experiences and expectations.
D. Seeing is not always believing for new food products.
【解析】选D。推理判断题。根据本段第一句: What consumers expect when they see a food prepares themselves to taste certain flavors, 因为人们对于自己看到的食物是有期待的味道的, 倒数两句: They rely on visual expectations to pull customers into unfamiliar product. In some cases, color can overpower other senses and convince people they taste flavors that aren’t there. 所以生产商也利用视觉期待达到自己的销售目的, 有些情况下颜色甚至能蒙骗人们的其他感觉让他们尝到原本不存在的味道。
3. What is advised in the last paragraph?
A. Don’t risk changing food colors completely.
B. Change food colors to gain more consumers.
C. Sticking on familiar patterns is a big gamble.
D. Distinguish true or false customers with new food colors.
【解析】选A。细节理解题。根据本段第一句Although it may be possible to totally change food colors, it may not be advisable. 和最后一句While it’s interesting that consumer expectations for colors could shift, the risk of unexpected colors is high for any company. 可知这个赌注太大, 风险过高。
