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Jerónimo, R., Rocha, M. L. & Simão, C. (2019). The Snow White effect: How food colour saturation impacts food likeability. 5th Symposium on Ethics and Social Responsibility Research.

R. I. Jerónimo et al.,  "The Snow White effect: How food colour saturation impacts food likeability", in 5th Symp. on Ethics and Social Responsibility Research, Lisbon, 2019

@misc{jerónimo2019_1776124048183,
	author = "Jerónimo, R. and Rocha, M. L. and Simão, C.",
	title = "The Snow White effect: How food colour saturation impacts food likeability",
	year = "2019",
	url = "https://www.sesrr.com/"
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - The Snow White effect: How food colour saturation impacts food likeability
T2  - 5th Symposium on Ethics and Social Responsibility Research
AU  - Jerónimo, R.
AU  - Rocha, M. L.
AU  - Simão, C.
PY  - 2019
CY  - Lisbon
UR  - https://www.sesrr.com/
AB  - In our daily lives we are constantly in contact with chromatic stimuli, either by the objects we
see or by everything that nature has been busy painting, such as food. Our first contact with
food is through our eyes, therefore, it makes colour an important indicator for food
assessment and selection. This research aimed to study how a specific colour attribute - the
saturation – of plant origin (vegetables and fruits) and animal food products, both natural and
confectioned, has an influence on their likeability. For this, 32 images of edible and inedible
(objects) products were taken from the Food-Pics database, of the subset already validated
for the Portuguese population. For each image, a high and low saturation version was
created. Both versions of the 32 images were randomly presented to 48 participants who,
using a scale, reported their likeability for the products’ shown. The results reported that
colour saturation of foods, but not of objects, significantly affects the likeability for the
products. A greater likeability is found for both plant and animal origin foods that present a
higher level of colour saturation, irrespectively of being natural or confectioned products.
These findings have major implications for the promotion of healthy and environmentallyfriendly food consumption. This can be accomplished by promoting the use of more
saturated colours in the communication of organic fruits and vegetables, whereas, animal
products should be presented with low colour saturation. With this, we can appeal for
consumer responsibility by encouraging healthier eating habits and behaviours supporting a
more sustainable food production system, aiming for a more sustainable world.
ER  -