Crossmodal Correspondence between Color, Shapes, and Wine Odors

Crossmodal correspondence is of scientific and commercial interest in regard to the packaging of food and beverages. Research has shown that colors and shapes can be associated with certain aromas, but these interactions have been less extensively studied with authentic visual stimuli (i.e., packaging), nor with complex odors in a food matrix. This study sought to investigate odor-color-shape crossmodal interactions with complex odor stimuli (wine odors) and wine labels. The present research uses projective mapping with 3D shapes and colors, along with a wine label matching study, to test whether chardonnay odors of different character (buttery, citrus, floral, smoky, and vegetable) are associated with certain colors and shapes. In the projective mapping experiment, most chardonnay odors were grouped similarly, however, the vegetable-forward wine was more associated with sharper shapes than rounded ones. In the wine label experiment, the yellow labels tended to be better matched with all odors, except the vegetable-forward wine, which was matched equally to all colors. These findings indicate that regardless of chardonnay odor character, it is mostly associated with a yellow colored label. Interestingly, results also indicated that not all correspondences aligned with the most common color association of an odor character (i.e., vegetative was not strictly associated with green, smoky was not associated with brown, etc.). Significant correlations between stimuli liking and matching scores indicate much of the correspondences are explained by hedonics. Overall, the present research demonstrates evidence for odor-color-shape correspondences in complex odors and realistic visual stimuli, however not as strongly as in controlled environments and simplistic stimuli.