Food-related emotional resonance

In recent years, numerous studies have investigated food-related emotions, which in turn have led to the development and application of various questionnaires focusing on emotional perceptions (Spinelli et al., 2014, King et al., 2013, Ng et al. 2013, Porcherot et al., 2014). The current scientific literature on "emotion questionnaires" focuses on several topics, including product specificity, questionnaire length, language, derivation of terms (Gmuer et al., 2015), the nationality of observers, the frequency of consumption of certain products (Piqeras-Fizman et al., 2014), the number of products offered, the sequence of questions (King et al., 2013), the temporal dynamics of sensory and emotional effects (Jager et al., 2014) and the measurement period (Hendy 2012) itself. With today's methods for measuring food-related emotions, preparatory exercises of the panellists were not integrated. In the EmpathicFoodTest developed by us (Geier et al., 2016), a preparatory framework was developed as an element based on the concept of "mindfulness-based stress reduction" theorised by Kabat-Zinn (1982).

The preparation of the subjects was introduced because emotions are localised in the somatosensory system (Nummenaa et al., 2014). It is assumed that an improvement in body perception through the preparatory setting leads to an improved perception of the emotions caused by the food.

The recording of food-related emotions represents a new approach for measuring consumer reactions. Using a standardised questionnaire, the effects of food on physical and emotional well-being are measured according to taste impressions. For consumers of organic products, well-being and health effects are a main buying motive, and a more important one than taste (BÖLN Ökobarometer 2017). The hypothesis is put forward that high-quality carrots from organically grown varieties and the products made from them have a positive effect on food-related emotions.