Team CEP

Culture Expertise Perception

Research

The team CEP brings together expertise in cognitive psychology, sensory evaluation and anthropology, and is interested in the mechanisms involved in the perception, categorization and choice of food and beverages by consumers, notably under the effect of experience linked to the social and cultural environment.

In particular, the team is interested in how these phenomena evolve in a context of food transition, leading to the emergence of new food categories (plant-based proteins, natural wines, meat substitutes, etc.).

Particular attention is paid to understanding the holistic processing of chemosensory information, involving different sensory modalities as well as internal (physiological and emotional state) and external (physical and social environment) context. This integration gives rise to complex representations that modulate the perception of external signals and responses to them.

We also study consumers' practices, attitudes, and beliefs towards food, using psychological and anthropological approaches, which allow us to take into account the role of cultural factors and social interactions in food perception.

 

More specifically, our current research themes are :

- Effect of expertise on food and beverage categorization.

- The effect of context on food and beverage perception (cross-modal perception, semantic and perceptual effects, immersion quality).

- Measuring emotional reactions associated with food consumption by implicit methods using AI.

- Effect of culture on the representation of ill-defined food-related concepts (minerality, sustainability, level of processing)

- Effect of information and awareness campaigns on consumer food choices (plant-based proteins, use of salt, additive-free wine, etc.).

Key words

perception; cognition; categorization; mental representations; expertise; culture; context

Team

Team leader

Jordi Ballester, associate professor UB

Team members

Catherine DACREMONT (PhD), Full Professor IAD

Gaëlle ARVISENET (PhD), Full Professor IAD

Emmanuelle RICAUD-ONETO (PhD), Associate Professor IAD

Lucas PUTGNY, Technical staff IAD

Juliana MELENDREZ-RUIZ, (CPJ IAD)

Samvel NAZARIAN, (post-doc)

Oriane CHENE, (PhD student)

Jessy YOUSSEF, (PhD student)

Maria Clara DUARTE OLIVEIRA, graduate student

Projects

Project Team CEP

Representative publications

Melendrez-Ruiz J., Arvisenet G., Dubot M., Dujourdy L., & Chambaron, S. (2023). Consumer Attitudes toward Pulses: Measuring the Implicit. Nutrients, 15(11), Art. 11. 
https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-04117034

Varela P., Arvisenet G., Gonera A., Myhrer K. S., Fifi V., & Valentin D. (2022). Meat replacer? No thanks! The clash between naturalness and processing: An explorative study of the perception of plant-based foods. Appetite, 169, 105793. https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03426927v1

Melendrez-Ruiz J., Chambaron S., Saldaña E., Monnery-Patris S., & Arvisenet G. (2022). Using CATA tests to capture consumers’ mental representations elicited by images of pulse-based food products with different levels of processing. Appetite, 170, 105887. https://hal.inrae.fr/hal-03513882v1

Gouton, M. A., Dacremont, C., Trystram, G., & Blumenthal, D. (2023). Effect of perceptive enrichment on the efficiency of simulated contexts: Comparing virtual reality and immersive room settings. Food Research International, 165, 112492. https://agroparistech.hal.science/hal-03981785


Sester, C., Deroy, O., Sutan, A., Galia, F., Desmarchelier, J. F., Valentin, D., Dacremont, C. (2013). “Having a drink in a bar”: An immersive approach to explore the effects of context on drink choice. Food Quality and Preference, 28(1), 23-31. https://hal.science/hal-00818242

Ballester J, Belascoin, M, Gonzalez-Hernandez, M, Parga-Dans, E, Alonso González, P, & Saenz-Navajas, M-P (2024). Sensory attributes and quality perception of red natural wines: a comparative study in Spain and France. OENO One, 58(1). https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2024.58.1.7737

Rodrigues H, Valentin D, Otheguy M, Ballester J (2022). How to make a mineral wine? Relationship between production type in the Chablis vineyard and the search for a mineral wine style. OENO One, 56(2), 29–45. https://doi.org/10.20870/oeno-one.2022.56.2.4856

Valentin D, Valente C, Ballester J, Symoneaux R, Smith I, Bauer FF, Nieuwoudt, H (2021) The Impact of “Wine Country of Origin” on the Perception of Wines by South African and French Wine Consumers: A Cross-Cultural Comparison. Foods , 10, 1710. https://doi.org/10.3390/foods10081710