FOOD NEOPHOBIA, ODOR EVALUATION AND EXPLORATORY SNIFFING BEHAVIOR

Past research has shown that people who avoid new foods (neophobics) a nd people who approach new foods (neophilics) differ in their sensory ratings of food and odor stimuli. The possible role of sampling behavi ors in these differences was assessed in two studies. Participants com pleted neophobia surveys, then rated the pleasantness of odors while w earing a device that measured sniffing behavior. Neophobics rated the odors as less pleasant and sniffed them less vigorously in both studie s. The results of these studies provide further evidence for differenc es in the way that neophobics and neophilics respond to novel, food-li ke stimuli. Neophobia influences willingness to try novel foods, expec ted liking for these foods, food-associated sampling behaviors and pos t-sampling ratings of food-like stimuli. It is proposed that the respo nses of neophobics and neophilics will differ when little information about the sensory properties of foods are available, and that these di fferences will moderate as sensory information is acquired. (C) 1998 A cademic Press.