Audiovisual aesthetic matching enhances food evaluation by amplifying pleasure and perceived tastiness

Journal article

Aesthetic experiences can shape the evaluations of consumers, including in the case of food. While matching multisensory cues can enhance perception, such interventions have not always been shown to promote consumption as effectively as predicted. The present study examined whether and how the multisensory aesthetic match of food plating and background music can enhance consumers' hedonic evaluations and purchase intentions. In two studies, participants viewed or tasted foods with varying plating aesthetics, either with music matched or mismatched in aesthetic value (e.g., ugly vs. beautiful). The participants provided food evaluations before or after tasting. The results revealed that matched audiovisual aesthetics produced enhancement effects on expected evaluations across different aesthetic levels among female participants, whereas men's ratings were enhanced only for the less-aesthetic plating. In contrast, actual evaluations were amplified only for healthy food with less-aesthetic and unhealthy food with relatively high-aesthetic plating. The multisensory enhancement of aesthetic value occurred through distinct pathways, influencing pre- and post-tasting evaluations through pleasure and perceived tastiness. These findings reveal that the mechanisms of audiovisual aesthetic matching in enhancing food consumption depend on the type of food and the gender of the participant. Aesthetic cues can be applied to nudge emotional engagement and enrich sensory experiences in daily routines, and to promote health-oriented consumption across different goal orientations (e.g., encouraging or curbing consumption).

Authors: Lin, X; Ma, J; Huang, J; Spence, C

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Food Quality and Preference More from this journal
• Volume: 148
• Article number: 106131
• Publication date: 2026-10-01
• Acceptance date: 2026-09-30
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodqual.2026.106131
• EISSN: 1873-6343
• ISSN: 0950-3293
• Language: English
• Keywords: multisensory enhancement; aesthetic value; plating; food evaluation; sensory nudging