Differences in Color Representations of Tastes: Cross-cultural Study Among Japanese, Russian and Taiwanese.

The current study explores cultural differences in cross-modal color-taste associations among Japanese, Taiwanese, and Russian respondents. The participants were asked to choose a color from a 35-color palette that corresponds to a particular item including three voices (male, female, and child), five basic tastes, five types of oral chemesthesis (hot, sharp, spicy, fatty, and astringent), and eight functional foods. The results demonstrate that in the cases of voices, three basic tastes (sweet, salty, and sour), and hot and fatty tastes, cross-modal associations were mostly similar among the participants and consistent with previous studies. However, for some specific tastes such as umami, several types of oral chemesthesis, and functional foods, more cultural differences were observed. We also measured the level of consistency/diversity of opinions among the participants of a single nation by calculating the Selected Colors (SC)-80 parameter, which represents the number of colors selected by 80% of the respondents. The results have shown that it is connected with the level of familiarity of certain tastes and foods; however, specific cultural features were also observed.