Assessingthe influence of shape and sound symbolism on the consumer's response to chocolate

摘要

The new rounded Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate bar has got many consumers agitated because they say it tastes sweeter than the original more rectangular bar. But the company says that the formulation hasn't changed. Who is right? This furore can perhaps be explained with reference to the literature on shape symbolism. People associate sweetness with roundness and angularity with bitterness, hence making a traditionally rectangular food rounder may alter the perceived taste by priming notions of sweetness in the consumer's mind. When taken together with the emerging literature on sound symbolic brand naming, it would appear that the confectionary market could learn a trick or two from the psychology lab.Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate bar hit the headlines in the UK recently', following complaints the company has been receiving from regular consumers who said that the new, rounder format bar tasted 'too sweet' (see Figure 1, page 60). Paul Young, an award-winning chocolatier fromLondon commented: "the rectangular chunks of the old bars were integral to the taste of Dairy Milk."