Food Studies Commons^™

Some Like It Hot: The Effect Of Serving Temperature On Perceived Caloric Content And Intent To Purchase Complementary Food, Sara Baskentli

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This research introduces the serving temperature bias, which is defined as the belief that a food or beverage served hot has more calories and is considered more fattening than the same item served cold. Six studies, including an observational field study and follow-up controlled experiments, demonstrate that people indeed hold the serving temperature bias. This belief is grounded in the conceptual associations between warm foods and beverages and consumers’ affiliative semantic associations regarding home and hearth - concepts captured by the phrase “homelike.” Specifically, hot foods and beverages are perceived to be labor of love and reminder of home (homelike) …