P. Pliner et C. Stallberg-white, "Pass the ketchup, please": familiar flavors increase children's willingness to taste novel foods, APPETITE, 34(1), 2000, pp. 95-103
Rozin & Rozin (1981) have suggested that the addition of flavour principles
(the distinctive combinations of seasonings which characterize many cuisin
es) may facilitate the introduction of a new staple food into a culture. Th
at is, the reluctance of omnivores to approach novel foods can be reduced b
y adding the familiar flavor principle to the unfamiliar food. To test this
hypothesis, we "created" flavor principles in the laboratory by exposing c
hildren repeatedly to one of two initially novel chip dips. After the expos
ure phase, they were offered familiar and unfamiliar chips and asked about
their willingness to taste each, alone, with the exposed dip, the unexposed
dip, and several other dips. The main prediction was that addition of the
exposed dip to the unfamiliar chip would increase children's willingness to
taste it. Since individuals are not reluctant to taste familiar foods, add
ition of the exposed dip to the familiar chip was not expected to increase
willingness to taste it. The results confirmed this prediction. Practical a
nd theoretical implications of this finding were discussed. (C) 2000 Academ
ic Press.