Note

Coffee Cup Color and Evaluation of aBeverage’s ‘‘Warmth Quality’’

Nicolas Gueguen,* Celine JacobUniversite de Bretagne-Sud, Vannes, France

Received 21 September 2011; revised 23 April 2012; accepted 26 April 2012

Abstract: Glass color may influence the evaluation offood and beverages as has been reported in a previousstudy where participants rated a cold beverage presentedin a blue glass to be more thirst-quenching than the samebeverage poured into a green, yellow, or red glass. Ourexperiment sought to test whether container color alsocan affect the perceived temperature of a warm beverage.One hundred and twenty undergraduates were givenwarm coffee served in cups of different colors (blue,green, yellow, and red) and were asked to indicate whichbeverage was the warmest. Statistically significant differ-ences among colors were found. The red cup was eval-uated as containing the warmest beverage (38.3%), fol-lowed by the yellow (28.3%), the green (20.0%), and theblue (13.3%) cups. Conventional associations betweenwarm versus cool colors are used to explain theseresults. � 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 00, 000 – 000,

2012; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrar-

y.com). DOI 10.1002/col.21757

Key words: color; taste; association

INTRODUCTION

Research has found that, despite inconsistencies,1 the

quality and intensity of perceived taste is influenced by

the color of food and beverages.2–6 Maga7 observed that

in a green aqueous solution, sucrose became detectable at

a level below a baseline concentration, whereas when pre-

sented in a yellow aqueous solution, sucrose was only de-

tectable at higher concentrations. Morrot et al.8 found that

white wine, when colored in red, was described with

more red wine odor terms. This research clearly shows

that perceived taste quality is sometimes influenced by

the associations between color and sensory perception.

However, one aspect of this perception that has received

little attention is the impact of the color of the container

on apparent temperature of food and beverages.

Previous research shows a relationship between tem-

perature and color. Fanger et al.9 reported that partici-

pants prefer warmer, lower ambient temperature in

extreme red light than in the extreme blue light. Kim

and Tokura10 observed that their participants signifi-

cantly preferred clothes of warm colors (red, orange, and

yellow) under the influence of face cooling. The authors

suggested that ambient temperature has an impact on the

preference for colors and that warm colors are preferred

at cool temperatures, whereas cold colors (blue and

green) are preferred at higher temperatures. Cunningham

and Cabanac11 have found that during the luteal phase,

women felt that colored water poured on their hands was

more pleasant when it was warm (red), whereas cold

water (blue) was evaluated negatively. During the follic-

ular phase, the opposite is true, suggesting that internal

body temperature, which varies during the ovarian cycle,

has an influence on the sensation produced by different

colors. These studies suggest an influence of internal or

ambient temperature on color preference. However, some

studies have found no effect of temperature judgment

and color.12

*Correspondence to: Nicolas Gueguen (e-mail: nicolas.gueguen@

univ-ubs.fr).

VVC 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Volume 00, Number 0, Month 2012 1

Colors are associated with different temperatures13 and

conventional beliefs link green and blue with cooler tem-

peratures and red and yellow with warmer temperatures.12

Gueguen14 evaluated the perception of the thirst-quench-

ing quality of a cold beverage associated with glass color.

Undergraduate students tasted the same soda presented in

glasses of four different colors (blue, green, yellow, and

red). Participants tasted each glass and indicated which

was the most thirst-quenching. The soda presented in a

blue glass was evaluated as the most thirst-quenching. For

the author, these results confirm that perceived taste qual-

ity is influenced by the associations between color and

sensory perception.5

In this experiment, we decided to perform the opposite

experiment of Gueguen14 by testing the effect of colors

on the perception of the warmest quality of a beverage.

We hypothesized that red cups would increase the percep-

tion of the heat of a warm beverage, whereas blue cups

would decrease perceived warmth of the same beverage.

METHOD

Participants

One hundred and twenty undergraduate students (60 men

and 60 women) in various disciplines (business, communi-

cation, computer science, etc.), aged between 18 and 20

years (M ¼ 18.8, SD ¼ 1.2) participated voluntarily in the

study. All had previously stated that they drank coffee.

Procedure

The experiment was approved by the laboratory’s ethi-

cal committee (CRPCC-LESTIC EA 1285) with a restric-

tion concerning the temperature of the beverages. On ar-

rival at the laboratory, each participant was informed that

the research was a taste test to evaluate a new coffee

brand and was asked to give written consent for participa-

tion (all complied). Each participant was then invited to

proceed into a room where a table had been set up with

four cups, differing only in color (blue, green, yellow,

and red), placed in the center. The temperature of the

room was controlled at 238C. The same beverage (Colom-

bian coffee) was served in each cup in even proportions

and at the same temperature: 408C. This was the maxi-

mum temperature authorized by the ethical committee.

The temperature of the coffee was controlled with an

electric thermos and was poured 1 min before sampling.

Each cup carried a number (1, 2, 3, or 4 printed on a

sticker and placed in front of each cup) and was separated

from the others by a distance of 20 cm. The color of the

cup corresponding to each number, and therefore to the

tasting order, was randomly attributed to each participant.

Participants were told that the study focused on the

human perception of minute variations in beverage tem-

perature and were instructed to taste each beverage in the

order presented, before indicating the cup containing the

warmest beverage. Once a participant had tasted the four

beverages, the experimenter asked for an indication of the

warmest beverage and reported the number and color of

the cup selected, before thanking the participant and pro-

ceeding with a debriefing.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

A preliminary 2 (participant gender) 3 4 (random order

or the colors) log-linear analysis yielded no significant

effects of gender [v2(1, N ¼ 120) ¼ 0.81, P ¼ .37] or

sampling order [v2(3, N ¼ 120) ¼ 0.44, P ¼ .93]. The

interaction between participant gender and random order

were not significant [v2(4, N ¼ 120) ¼ 1.46, P ¼ 0.83]

and data were pooled for further analysis. Results are pre-

sented in Table I.

A chi-square goodness-of-fit revealed an overall differ-

ence between the four colors [v2(3, N ¼ 120) ¼ 16.8, P\ 0.001]. Follow-up analysis showed that red was signifi-

cantly different from blue [v2(1, N ¼ 62) ¼ 14.52, P \0.001] and green [v2(1, N ¼ 70) ¼ 6.91, P ¼ 0.009] but

not yellow [v2(1, N ¼ 80) ¼ 1.8, P ¼ 0.18]. Yellow was

significantly different from blue [v2(1, N ¼ 50) ¼ 6.48, P¼ 0.01] but not from green [v2(1, N ¼ 58) ¼ 1.72, P ¼0.19]. Blue and green were not significantly different

[v2(1, N ¼ 40) ¼ 1.60, P ¼ 0.21].

These results provide strong support for the hypothesis

that container color can influence the perception of bev-

erage temperature. The findings are congruent with those

of a previous study in which the thirst-quenching quality

of a beverage was also associated with container color,

where blue glasses were selected as containing the most

thirst-quenching soda.14 In this study, the red-colored cup

was selected as that containing the warmest coffee. With

these new data, a further effect of color on taste was

found. Red, which is a warm color, may increase the

level of perceived temperature associated with a bever-

age. In Gueguen’s study,14 the opposite effect was found

with blue, a cold color, increasing the level of thirst-

quenching associated with a beverage. Kim and Tokura10

have found that participants prefer warm colors under the

influence of face cooling. Finding no statistical difference

between red and yellow in this study is probably

explained by the same mechanism given that both colors

are warm colors.

These results have obvious practical interest. It could

be interesting to use containers of different colors to influ-

TABLE I. Frequency and percentage of participantswho indicated the color of the cup containing thewarmest beverage (N 5 120).

Blue Green Yellow Red

% 13.3 20.0 28.3 38.3Frequency 16ba 24bc 34ac 46a

a Frequencies with different letters are statistically significant atP\ 0.05.

2 COLOR research and application

ence the perception of the temperature of a beverage. In

this way, the color of the dishes and glasses used to pres-

ent food and drink could be manipulated to enhance the

overall perception of a meal. For example, it could be

possible to increase the perceived warmth of a beverage

with a red cup without using additional energy to increase

the temperature of the beverage. It could be a way to

reduce energy consumption and then energy amount for

bar and restaurant managers.

1. Delwiche J. The impact of perceptual interactions on perceived fla-

vor. Food Qual Prefer 2004;15:137–146.

2. Pangborn RM. Influence of color on the discrimination of sweetness.

Am J Psychol 1960;73:229–238.

3. Johnson J, Clydesdale F. Perceived sweetness and redness in colored

sucrose solutions. J Food Sci 1982;47:747–752.

4. Jonhson J, Dzendolet E, Damon R, Sawyer M, Clysdesdale F.

Psychophysical relationship between perceived sweetness and

color in cherry-flavored beverages. J Food Prot 1982;45:

601–606.

5. Walsh LM, Toma RB, Tuveson RV, Sondhi L. Color prefer-

ence and food choice among children. J Psychol 1989;124:

645–653.

6. Alley RL, Alley TR. The influence of physical state and color on

perceived sweetness. J Psychol 1998;132:561–568.

7. Maga J. Influence of color on taste thresholds. Chem Sens Flav

1974;1:115–119.

8. Morrot G, Brochet F, Dubourdieu D. The color of odors. Brain Lang

2001;79:309–320.

9. Fanger P, Breum N, Jerking E. Can colour and noise influence man’s

thermal comfort? Ergonomics 1977;20:236–238.

10. Kim HS, Tokura H. Cloth colour preference under the influence of

face cooling. J Therm Biol 1998;23:335–340.

11. Cunningham D, Cabanac M. Evidence from behavioural thermoregu-

latory responses of a shift in set point temperature related to the

menstrual cycle. J Physiol 1971;63:236–238.

12. Berry PC. Effect of colored illumination upon perceived temperature.

J Appl Psychol 1961;45:248–250.

13. Wright B. The influence of hue, lightness, and saturation on apparent

warmth and weight. Am J Psychol 1962;75:232–241.

14. Gueguen N. The effect of glass color on the evaluation of the thirst-

quenching quality of a beverage. Curr Psychol Lett 2003;11:1–8.

Volume 00, Number 0, Month 2012 3