Smelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.

Crossmodal correspondences between odors and visual stimuli-particularly colors-are well-established in the literature, but there is a paucity of research involving visual shape correspondences. Crossmodal associations between 20 odors (a selection of those commonly found in wine) and visual shape s...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Hanson-Vaux, G, Crisinel, A, Spence, C
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: 2013
_version_ 1797057592916180992
author Hanson-Vaux, G
Crisinel, A
Spence, C
author_facet Hanson-Vaux, G
Crisinel, A
Spence, C
author_sort Hanson-Vaux, G
collection OXFORD
description Crossmodal correspondences between odors and visual stimuli-particularly colors-are well-established in the literature, but there is a paucity of research involving visual shape correspondences. Crossmodal associations between 20 odors (a selection of those commonly found in wine) and visual shape stimuli ("kiki"/"bouba" forms-Köhler W. 1929. Gestalt psychology. New York: Liveright.) were investigated in a sample of 25 participants (mean age of 21 years). The odors were rated along a form scale anchored by 2 shapes, as well as several descriptive adjective scales. Two of the odors were found to be significantly associated with an angular shape (lemon and pepper) and two others with a rounded shape (raspberry and vanilla). Principal component analysis indicated that the hedonic value and intensity of odors are important in this crossmodal association, with more unpleasant and intense smells associated with more angular forms. These results are discussed in terms of their practical applications, such as in the use of bottle, logo, or label shape by marketers of perfume and wine to convey the prominent notes through congruent odor-shape pairing. In conclusion, these results support the existence of widespread crossmodal associations (or correspondences) between odors and visual shape stimuli.
first_indexed 2024-03-06T19:38:35Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:1fdf3e44-dda2-483e-a53d-0d17fa459afb
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-06T19:38:35Z
publishDate 2013
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:1fdf3e44-dda2-483e-a53d-0d17fa459afb2022-03-26T11:24:30ZSmelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.Journal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:1fdf3e44-dda2-483e-a53d-0d17fa459afbEnglishSymplectic Elements at Oxford2013Hanson-Vaux, GCrisinel, ASpence, CCrossmodal correspondences between odors and visual stimuli-particularly colors-are well-established in the literature, but there is a paucity of research involving visual shape correspondences. Crossmodal associations between 20 odors (a selection of those commonly found in wine) and visual shape stimuli ("kiki"/"bouba" forms-Köhler W. 1929. Gestalt psychology. New York: Liveright.) were investigated in a sample of 25 participants (mean age of 21 years). The odors were rated along a form scale anchored by 2 shapes, as well as several descriptive adjective scales. Two of the odors were found to be significantly associated with an angular shape (lemon and pepper) and two others with a rounded shape (raspberry and vanilla). Principal component analysis indicated that the hedonic value and intensity of odors are important in this crossmodal association, with more unpleasant and intense smells associated with more angular forms. These results are discussed in terms of their practical applications, such as in the use of bottle, logo, or label shape by marketers of perfume and wine to convey the prominent notes through congruent odor-shape pairing. In conclusion, these results support the existence of widespread crossmodal associations (or correspondences) between odors and visual shape stimuli.
spellingShingle Hanson-Vaux, G
Crisinel, A
Spence, C
Smelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.
title Smelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.
title_full Smelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.
title_fullStr Smelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.
title_full_unstemmed Smelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.
title_short Smelling shapes: crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes.
title_sort smelling shapes crossmodal correspondences between odors and shapes
work_keys_str_mv AT hansonvauxg smellingshapescrossmodalcorrespondencesbetweenodorsandshapes
AT crisinela smellingshapescrossmodalcorrespondencesbetweenodorsandshapes
AT spencec smellingshapescrossmodalcorrespondencesbetweenodorsandshapes