Champagne and Sensory Cues: The Influence of Haptic Sensations on Alcohol-Induced Hedonic Feelings, An Abstract

While alcohol can lead to hedonic effects when consumed at low levels, high levels of alcohol consumption can lead to potentially negative outcomes. In light of these potential negative consequences, there is a need to identify surrogates for alcohol consumption in terms of inducing pleasurable hedonic feelings without necessarily increasing the volume of alcohol consumption. This research investigates one such surrogate in terms of haptic sensations. Specifically, we investigate how the weight (i.e., relative heaviness vs. lightness) of the glass/flute/container alcohol is consumed from influences of alcohol-induced hedonic feelings, defined as positive affective feelings that stem from small amounts of alcohol consumption. We aim to answer the following research question: Would consuming from a heavier (vs. lighter) container influence alcohol-induced hedonic feelings? Weight is sometimes used as a heuristic cue for volume judgments (Lin 2013). This is because there tends to be strong positive correlation between perceived weight and volume (Ellis and Lederman 1993). In fact, physical weight has been shown to be the best predictor of perceived volume across a wide range of scenarios (Ellis and Lederman 1993). So how will perceived glass weight influence perceived consumption and ultimately alcohol-induced hedonic effects? In the context of the present research, we are proposing that the weight of the champagne flute provides the anchor point or context against which champagne consumption is judged. Thus, after individuals consume the entire contents of the champagne flute, the weight change from the full to the empty flute will be perceived as being of relatively lower magnitude for the heavy (vs. light) flute. Hence, we hypothesize that individuals will use the relatively lower weight change to infer lower perceived consumption, which will subconsciously lead them to have lower alcohol-induced hedonic feelings. In other words, drinking champagne from the light (vs. heavy) flute will lead to greater level of alcohol-induced hedonic feelings. We tested our hypothesis with the help of three field studies and one lab study. The results of these studies show that, consistent with our hypothesis, individuals who consumed the champagne from the lighter (vs. heavier) flute had a higher level of alcohol-induced hedonic feelings. The findings of our research have both conceptual implications in terms of cross-modal influences of container weight on sensations related to alcoholic beverage consumption and practical implications in terms of designing champagne flutes and wine glasses.