TY - JOUR
T1 - A cross-cultural study on odor-elicited life stage-associations
AU - Wendelin, Martin
AU - Bauer, Andrea
AU - Buchinger, Elisabeth
AU - Danner, Lukas
AU - Derndorfer, Eva
AU - Thi Minh Hang, Vu
AU - Hopfer, Helene
AU - Wallner, Marlies
AU - Jantathai, Srinual
AU - Julius, Nina
AU - Matullat, Imke
AU - Majchrzak, Dorota
AU - Siegmund, Barbara
AU - Seo, Han Seok
AU - Spangl, Bernhard
AU - Duerrschmid, Klaus
N1 - Funding Information:
Part of this work (i.e., the survey conducted at Pennsylvania State University, USA) was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Federal Appropriations under project PEN04624 and accession number 1013412 (H.H.). The funder did not have any influence on the design of the study or, the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, the writing of the manuscript, or the decision to publish the results.
Funding Information:
The authors are grateful to Symrise AG for providing the odor samples, the sniffing stripes as well as the access to the Eye Question(R) Software. The authors acknowledge the support of the Sensorik Netzwerk Österreich for covering the cost of postage for the sample delivery and of all the Sensory Networks, institutions and individuals who contributed to data collection (Sensorik Netzwerk Österreich; IG Sensorik Switzerland; Hamburg University of Applied Sciences and ttz Bremerhaven, Germany; University of Adelaide, Australia; Mahasarakham University, Thailand; The Pennsylvania State University and University of Arkansas, USA; Symrise: Austria, Germany, Singapore and USA; Bach Khoa University, Hanoi, Vietnam). The authors would like to thank all participants for their volunteer participation. Part of this work (i.e. the survey conducted at Pennsylvania State University, USA) was supported by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture Federal Appropriations under project PEN04624 and accession number 1013412 (H.H.). The funder did not have any influence on the design of the study or, the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data, the writing of the manuscript, or the decision to publish the results.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors
PY - 2023/2
Y1 - 2023/2
N2 - Associative conceptualization plays an important role in how we perceive and interact with our environment. Particularly odor associations can be highly vivid and often long-lasting due to their close connection with our episodic memory and emotions. Based on the findings of a study conducted in Austria in 2017, this work was carried out to investigate odor-elicited life stage-associations (OELSA) in seven nations and to identify potential similarities and differences in conceptualizing odor impressions across these nations. A total of 1144 adults (aged 21–60) from Austria, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam participated in this study. Nine odors (vanilla, orange, lemon, mint, coconut, basil, rose, anise, and hay) were presented to the participants, and they were asked to answer questions about their spontaneous associations with life stages. The results indicate the existence of OELSA in all investigated nations. For example, vanilla was predominantly assigned to children in all nations, while hay was primarily assigned to elder people. While most of the investigated odors were most frequently associated with adults, some significant differences in OELSA were observed between the different nationalities. For instance, mint was more frequently associated with children by Australian participants compared to participants from all other nations, while coconut was more strongly associated with children by the Vietnamese participants compared to all other participants. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of consistent life stage-related associations elicited by certain odors across different nations and cultures and, at the same time points to differences in life stage-related association with certain odors between the nations. Since this work was not designed to identify the reasons for these differences, we can only make assumptions about the potential underlying causes for these behaviors.
AB - Associative conceptualization plays an important role in how we perceive and interact with our environment. Particularly odor associations can be highly vivid and often long-lasting due to their close connection with our episodic memory and emotions. Based on the findings of a study conducted in Austria in 2017, this work was carried out to investigate odor-elicited life stage-associations (OELSA) in seven nations and to identify potential similarities and differences in conceptualizing odor impressions across these nations. A total of 1144 adults (aged 21–60) from Austria, Australia, Germany, Switzerland, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam participated in this study. Nine odors (vanilla, orange, lemon, mint, coconut, basil, rose, anise, and hay) were presented to the participants, and they were asked to answer questions about their spontaneous associations with life stages. The results indicate the existence of OELSA in all investigated nations. For example, vanilla was predominantly assigned to children in all nations, while hay was primarily assigned to elder people. While most of the investigated odors were most frequently associated with adults, some significant differences in OELSA were observed between the different nationalities. For instance, mint was more frequently associated with children by Australian participants compared to participants from all other nations, while coconut was more strongly associated with children by the Vietnamese participants compared to all other participants. The results of this study demonstrate the existence of consistent life stage-related associations elicited by certain odors across different nations and cultures and, at the same time points to differences in life stage-related association with certain odors between the nations. Since this work was not designed to identify the reasons for these differences, we can only make assumptions about the potential underlying causes for these behaviors.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.104810
DO - 10.1016/j.foodqual.2023.104810
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85146877289
SN - 0950-3293
VL - 106
JO - Food Quality and Preference
JF - Food Quality and Preference
M1 - 104810
ER -