# Influence of Visual Color Cues on Saltiness Expectation, Sensory Liking, and Emotions: A Soy Sauce Model Study

## TL;DR

This study shows that the color of soy sauce affects how salty it tastes and how people feel about it, with darker colors being more appealing and making the sauce seem saltier.

## Contribution

The study demonstrates how visual color cues can be used to enhance saltiness perception and liking in low-sodium soy sauce.

## Key findings

- Moderate color intensity (MS) received the highest liking scores for color and saltiness.
- Darker soy sauce colors were associated with positive emotions and higher saltiness expectations.
- Light-colored soy sauce evoked negative emotions and lower liking scores.

## Abstract

Food color can greatly impact consumer perception. It can shape flavor expectations and influence emotions. This research evaluated how visual color cues affect perceived saltiness, sensory liking, and emotional responses to soy sauce. The study used four samples with the same salt concentrations (12% NaCl w/v). The color was varied in intensities, including light (LS), control (CS), moderate (MS), and high (HS). There was a total of 100 consumers to evaluate the samples. The results showed that MS received the highest liking scores for color (6.17) and saltiness (6.30). LS achieved the lowest scores at 3.98 for color and 5.78 for saltiness. Color intensity had a significant correlation with the expectation of saltiness. Correspondence analysis revealed that MS was most frequently associated with positive emotions such as “interested” (36%), whereas LS evoked negative emotions, including “disgusted,” “bored,” and “worried.” These findings confirm that darker colors enhance perceived taste intensity and positive affect. The use of color cues may therefore be a simple strategy to design low-sodium soy sauce formulations without reducing consumer acceptance while potentially supporting sodium reduction initiatives aimed at improving public health outcomes.