Taste is one of the crucial factors that contributes to shaping eating behaviors and is also one of the leading reasons that affects our preferences to like or dislike some foods that mainly have a bitter taste. Variation in bitter phenotype (tasters and non-tasters) could influence diet quality and in turn body weight, which overall influenced health outcomes. The objective of this study was to identify whether bitter taste phenotype status influences anthropometric measurements, body fat percentage, and eating behaviors (liking and intake) in female college students. In this cross-sectional study (n = 86), female college students aged 18 to 22 from Mississippi State University were classified into one of two groups (taster or non-taster) by means of a taste test of filter paper saturated with the bitter compound 6-n-propylthiouracil (PROP). Adiposity was measured using anthropometric measurements and body composition was measured using bioelectrical impedance analysis. A food liking survey was administrated to identify how much participants liked or disliked various foods and beverages. Dietary intake of total energy intake, macronutrients, fruits, and vegetables were evaluated using the NIH Diet History Questionnaire. Bitter phenotype status was not significantly associated with adiposity indicators; however, it was associated with food liking scores for foods that have bitter and umami tastes such as kale and mushrooms. Additionally, bitter phenotype was associated with dietary intake for total fruits and vitamin C intakes. Ethnic background was the strongest independent variable that was significantly correlated with adiposity indicators and food liking. These results suggested that while bitter taste phenotype may influence eating behaviors in certain foods, it does not affect adiposity indicators and body fat percentage.

While consumer awareness of benefits of adequate nutrition has noticeably surged in recent years, developing countermeasures against improper eating habits still represents a public health priority in view of the growing prevalence of diet-related diseases. Eating behaviours are complex phenomena driven by a spectrum of biological and environmental factors, wherein (chemo)sensory perception is reckoned amongst the most influential. Analogously, chemosensation is affected by a myriad of determinants, and this warrants the commonly observed large variation in how tastes and smells are perceived among individuals. Given how such variability intimately relates to dietary habits, deciphering its underlying mechanisms is paramount to promoting healthier food choices. In this vein, emerging evidence suggests that human eating behaviours can also be affected by interactions between the gastrointestinal microbiota and the chemosensory systems. Despite growing interest, the sensory-oriented microbiome field suffers from obvious limitations due to its recent emergence. As a result, little efforts has been devoted to elucidating: a) the associations between the oral microbiota and olfaction or known psychological mediators of sensory perception; b) the links between the distal gut microbiota and taste functioning; c) the consequences of interactions between chemosensation and the gastrointestinal microbiota on dietary intakes. Against this backdrop, this thesis aimed at expanding the current knowledge on the interplays between domains of sensory perception and the gastrointestinal microbiota and how these might mirror variations in habitual food habits. In detail, four studies probing the associations a) between a psychosocial correlate of sensory perception (food neophobia), olfaction (Chapter 2) and the oral microbiota (Chapter 3); and b) between distal gut (Chapter 4) or oral (Chapter 5) microbiota, taste functioning and dietary intakes are here presented. In Chapter 2 and 3, a healthy cohort of 83 individuals (57.8 % women; aged 22-68 yo) remotely filled out the common Food Neophobia Scale and the trait anxiety subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory prior to providing a salivary sample for subsequent metataxonomic analysis (16S rRNA gene sequencing). Next, volunteers were tested for orthonasal olfactory functioning via the Sniffin’ Sticks battery, and monitored for retronasal aroma release while consuming a strawberry jelly candy by nose-space analysis (Selected-Ion Flow-Tube Mass Spectrometry). In Chapter 4 and 5, instead, 100 young adult volunteers (52 % women; aged 18-30 yo) attended a 7-day lasting remote protocol where responsiveness to genetically-mediated bitterness of 6-n-propylithiuracil (PROP), hedonics and intensity of oral sensations elicited by ten commercially-available food products, a battery of food-related psychological traits, a 4-day food record, and one salivary and one stool sample (sequenced by targeting the 16s rRNA gene) were collected. Overall, results substantially strengthen past evidence suggesting: a) that pronounced neophobic tendencies translate into higher levels of (negative) emotional activation or arousal towards foods; b) the existence of homogenous groups of individuals with generalized hypergeusia towards oral stimulations; c) that hyperresponsiveness to a peculiar taste quality is a barrier to the intake of foods evoking such sensation; d) that habitual consumption of dietary fibers and simple carbohydrates can shape both the gut and oral microbial ecology, respectively. Intriguingly, food neophobia and poor olfaction were positively associated with oral microbial markers of dysbiosis (e.g., Porphyromonas gingivalis), whilst a Clostridia-enriched salivary microbiota co-occurred with low responsiveness to alarming oral sensations (astringency, bitter, sour) elicited by real foods. Similarly, an ample panel of commensal gut bacterial genera mainly allocated to the families Lachnospiraceae and Ruminococcaceae was found to be enriched in individuals exhibiting lower acuity to both tastes (bitter, salty, sour, sweet) and trigeminal sensations (astringent, pungent). Besides taxonomically annotating a range of microbial taxa tied to sensory perception, putative metabolic pathways used by salivary and gut microbial communities to modulate taste perception were inferred and discussed. To conclude, this thesis supports the notion that the gastrointestinal microbiota is an additional candidate to explain interindividual variations in taste and smell perception, and provides novel important insights into the aetiology of eating behaviours. More importantly, this work also offers methodological cues to robustly assess the associations between chemosensation and host-related non genetic factors, and paves the way for future interventional studies targeting the efficacy of sensory-related microbial taxa as potential modulators of dietary habits.

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Brand awareness and its establishment among consumers has been a central theme in previous research on marketing as it is proven to indirectly induce purchase. It is thus seen as crucial for marketers to establish brand awareness. However, a research gap is apparent in regard to creating brand awareness among Generation Z. More specifically, this study focuses on which communication channel that is best suited for establishing brand awareness for this generational cohort. Hence, the purpose of this study is to explicitly analyse the linkage between these variables and provide a guideline for companies targeting Generation Z. To obtain a deeper understanding, previous research has been reviewed and an extensive data collection has been conducted including two methods; interviews and a survey to obtain empirical evidence and valuable insights. The qualitative data was of main focus with the quantitative data gave more of an overview. By combining and evaluating the empirical findings in relation to previous research and theory we could identify patterns and relationships that eventually led to the conclusion and final results of this thesis. The initial results concluded from this study underlined the importance of brand awareness since it was the first step for the purpose of inducing purchases. In addition, the results also highlight the importance of building upon brand awareness to establish brand liking as it will provide for the increase of purchase intention. For establishing brand awareness when targeting Generation Z, Instagram is a means of preference and should be considered as part of a mix of various communication channels in using integrated marketing communications.

L’association de la bière avec les mets apparaît comme une nouvelle tendance en France. Il est donc nécessaire pour les promoteurs de bière et les professionnels de la gastronomie de fournir à leurs clients des conseils de qualité en terme d’accord bière et mets. Au vu de ce contexte, l’objectif de la thèse était d’identifier les principes d’association et de mieux comprendre les mécanismes perceptuels qui les sous-tendent. Les déterminants des accords mets et boissons ont, dans un premier temps, été identifiés à partir du discours d’experts. Les résultats ont montrés que les associations mets et boissons sont régies par des caractéristiques perceptuelles, conceptuelles et affectives, liées à des mécanismes physico-chimiques, perceptuels et cognitifs. Les experts ont souvent mentionné la «similarité aromatique» comme l'un des principaux principes d'association. Ce principe consiste à associer deux produits partageant des arômes similaires. Les mécanismes perceptuels sous-jacents à ce principe ont été investigués. Les résultats ont montrés qu’une similarité aromatique entre un mets et une boisson augmente le niveau d’harmonie et d’homogénéité de leur association et diminue sa complexité. Ces effets peuvent être renforcés en orientant l’attention du dégustateur sur l’arôme partagé. D’un point de vue théorique, cette thèse conclut que l’association bières et mets inclut des dimensions sensorielles avec une recherche d’harmonie, mais aussi des dimensions symboliques et contextuelles. D’un point de vue plus appliqué, cette thèse fournit aux professionnels de la gastronomie, de nouvelles informations concernant les mécanismes perceptifs sous-tendant les principes d’associations. / Pairing between beer and dishes emerges as a new trend in France. Beer promoters or gastronomy professionals need to offer high-quality advices in terms of beer and food pairing to their customers. Within this context, the objective of the research was to identify pairing principles and to better understand the underlying perceptual mechanisms. Determinants of food and beverage pairing were first analysed from experts’ discourses. Results showed that food and beverage pairings are governed by perceptual, conceptual and affective features, related to physio-chemical, perceptual and cognitive processes. Experts often mentioned “Aromatic Similarity” as one of the main pairing principles. This “Aromatic similarity” principle consists in matching two products sharing similar aromas. Underlying perceptual mechanisms were then investigated. Results showed that aromatic similarity in food and beverage generally increases harmony and homogeneity and decreases complexity of the match. These effects can be reinforced by orientating the attentional focus on the shared aroma. From a theoretical point of view, this work concludes that beer and food pairing includes sensory dimensions with the search for harmony, as well as symbolic and contextual dimensions. From an applied point of view, this work provides useful information to gastronomy professionals with recent knowledge on perceptual mechanisms underlying food and beverage pairing principles.

<p>In this age of ubiquitous advertisement, people are getting more and more burdened withadvertising clutter. Digital Signage (DS) has evolved to be a new medium that can cut throughthis clutter and reach a large number of consumers. Though Digital Signage was introduced asan in-store advertising medium, soon it started to replace traditional static billboards with thebenefit of technological advancement.</p><p>While advertising effectiveness is a much discussed subject, effectiveness of an advertisingmedia is still a less explored area. Our research explored the effectiveness of Digital Signageas an advertising media in terms of its placement inside of a store and outside of a store. Atthe beginning we developed a model to measure the effectiveness of Digital Signage on thebasis of an existing model, termed as Advertising Response Model (ARM). Based onprofound study and analysis of previous literature on advertising and media effectiveness,consumer psychology, outdoor advertising and intermediate measurement variables weconstructed the modified version of ARM that deemed to be the best fit with our purpose. Wefurther developed four hypotheses on the basis of the four major variables of our model.</p><p>The result of our study indicated that placement of Digital Signage inside and outside of thestore environment impacts the variables of Attention, Recall and Media Liking of theaudience differently. However, no significant difference in consumers’ Buying Interest issupported. Placing Digital Signage inside of the store as well outside of the store both hasdifferent degrees of impact on consumers in terms of Attention, Recall and Media Liking. Thecorrelations among the variables were also explored and thus we presented some strategicinsights about the placement of Digital Signage and practical implications for managers in thescope of our study.</p><p>Our research area has received comparatively less academic attention than other advertisingmedia. However, considering the growing importance of Digital Signage as a groundbreakingadvertising medium and scope of future research work, we believe Digital Signage will be asubject of interest for the academics, the advertisers as well as for the companies.</p>

<p><strong>Syfte: </strong>Att undersöka vilken ansträngningsgrad och spelupplevelse en grupp flickor respektive pojkar i åldrarna 13-16 år hade vid 15 minuters spelande på Nintendo Wii Sports boxning samt att göra en jämförelse mellan könen. Syftet var även att undersöka om det förekom ett samband mellan spelupplevelse och ansträngningsgrad.</p><p><strong>Metod:</strong> Ansträngningsgraden mättes med pulsklocka och skattning på Borg Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE). Spelupplevelsen mättes med en 1-5 skala. Tjugo friska försökspersoner (10 flickor och 10 pojkar) deltog i studien.</p><p><strong>Resultat:</strong> Den genomsnittliga pulsen för flickor var 117,2 slag/min (SD 17,7) och för pojkar 132,3 slag/min (SD 22,9). Flickorna skattade 13,9 på Borg’s RPE-skala (SD 1,1) och pojkarna skattade 13,4 (SD 2,4). Båda könen skattade i genomsnitt 4 på upplevelseskalan. Pulsen respektive skattningen på Borg’s RPE-skala hos båda könen ökade signifikant under spelets gång jämfört med i vila. Studien visade inte någon skillnad mellan könen gällande ansträngning eller spelupplevelse. Sambandet mellan spelupplevelse och ansträngningsgrad mätt med puls var mycket svagt (r = 0,33, p =.16). Sambandet mellan spelupplevelse och ansträngningsgrad mätt med Borg’s RPE-skala var svagt (r = 0,52, p =.018).</p><p><strong>Konklusion: </strong>Att spela TV-spelet Nintendo Wii Sports boxning medför en ökning av ansträngningsgraden och pulsen. Aktiva TV-spel kan vara en passande aktivitet för barn och ungdomar och skulle kunna vara ett alternativ till fysisk aktivitet hos svårmotiverade barn och ungdomar. Fler studier inom detta område krävs för att på bästa sätt kunna ordinera och utvärdera TV-spelet som en aktivitetsform.</p>

Syfte: Att undersöka vilken ansträngningsgrad och spelupplevelse en grupp flickor respektive pojkar i åldrarna 13-16 år hade vid 15 minuters spelande på Nintendo Wii Sports boxning samt att göra en jämförelse mellan könen. Syftet var även att undersöka om det förekom ett samband mellan spelupplevelse och ansträngningsgrad. Metod: Ansträngningsgraden mättes med pulsklocka och skattning på Borg Ratings of Perceived Exertion (RPE). Spelupplevelsen mättes med en 1-5 skala. Tjugo friska försökspersoner (10 flickor och 10 pojkar) deltog i studien. Resultat: Den genomsnittliga pulsen för flickor var 117,2 slag/min (SD 17,7) och för pojkar 132,3 slag/min (SD 22,9). Flickorna skattade 13,9 på Borg’s RPE-skala (SD 1,1) och pojkarna skattade 13,4 (SD 2,4). Båda könen skattade i genomsnitt 4 på upplevelseskalan. Pulsen respektive skattningen på Borg’s RPE-skala hos båda könen ökade signifikant under spelets gång jämfört med i vila. Studien visade inte någon skillnad mellan könen gällande ansträngning eller spelupplevelse. Sambandet mellan spelupplevelse och ansträngningsgrad mätt med puls var mycket svagt (r = 0,33, p =.16). Sambandet mellan spelupplevelse och ansträngningsgrad mätt med Borg’s RPE-skala var svagt (r = 0,52, p =.018). Konklusion: Att spela TV-spelet Nintendo Wii Sports boxning medför en ökning av ansträngningsgraden och pulsen. Aktiva TV-spel kan vara en passande aktivitet för barn och ungdomar och skulle kunna vara ett alternativ till fysisk aktivitet hos svårmotiverade barn och ungdomar. Fler studier inom detta område krävs för att på bästa sätt kunna ordinera och utvärdera TV-spelet som en aktivitetsform.

In this age of ubiquitous advertisement, people are getting more and more burdened withadvertising clutter. Digital Signage (DS) has evolved to be a new medium that can cut throughthis clutter and reach a large number of consumers. Though Digital Signage was introduced asan in-store advertising medium, soon it started to replace traditional static billboards with thebenefit of technological advancement. While advertising effectiveness is a much discussed subject, effectiveness of an advertisingmedia is still a less explored area. Our research explored the effectiveness of Digital Signageas an advertising media in terms of its placement inside of a store and outside of a store. Atthe beginning we developed a model to measure the effectiveness of Digital Signage on thebasis of an existing model, termed as Advertising Response Model (ARM). Based onprofound study and analysis of previous literature on advertising and media effectiveness,consumer psychology, outdoor advertising and intermediate measurement variables weconstructed the modified version of ARM that deemed to be the best fit with our purpose. Wefurther developed four hypotheses on the basis of the four major variables of our model. The result of our study indicated that placement of Digital Signage inside and outside of thestore environment impacts the variables of Attention, Recall and Media Liking of theaudience differently. However, no significant difference in consumers’ Buying Interest issupported. Placing Digital Signage inside of the store as well outside of the store both hasdifferent degrees of impact on consumers in terms of Attention, Recall and Media Liking. Thecorrelations among the variables were also explored and thus we presented some strategicinsights about the placement of Digital Signage and practical implications for managers in thescope of our study. Our research area has received comparatively less academic attention than other advertisingmedia. However, considering the growing importance of Digital Signage as a groundbreakingadvertising medium and scope of future research work, we believe Digital Signage will be asubject of interest for the academics, the advertisers as well as for the companies.