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Show HONORS COLLEGE WsUWBZMMi SPRING 2013 Lindsey Wilbur Paul Rose THE EFFECTS OF DISH COLOR ON FOOD PREFERENCE Lindsey Wilbur (Paul Rose) Department of Communication University of Utah Color has an influence on our perception of food and effects the food choices w e make. In this study, images of food were used to test the affect of dish color on food preferences. Pairs of various food images were shown to ninety-six college students with one image in each pair that displayed the food on a white dish while the other image showed the food on a colored dish. The students were asked to respond to a prompt presented with each pair of images that read, which of these would you prefer to eat? The six foods shown in the images were: cereal, rice pilaf, salad, hamburger, chicken noodle soup, and cottage cheese. The responses collected from the students reveal a majority preference for the images of food served on white dishes opposed to the images of the same foods served on colored dishes. Five out of the six unique food pairs were preferred on white dishes while the one exception to the white dishes' popularity was a consistent finding that may be a point of interest for further research. Of the six foods shown in the images, cottage cheese was the only food that students preferred the image which exhibited a colored dish. This suggests that the influence on food preference is a result of the color combination formed by the dish and the food together, since the white food was preferred on a colored dish while the colorful foods were preferred on white dishes. These results demonstrate that dish color effects food preference and may have relevance in the marketing of food products. |