How we learn to like: the role of perceptual learning in development of liking, quality perception, and appreciation

This review explores how perceptual learning contributes to the development of liking for novel and unfamiliar foods. Food acceptance evolves dynamically with repeated exposure. Repeated exposure significantly enhances the acceptance of novel and unfamiliar foods through perceptual changes, as evidenced by empirical studies and theoretical frameworks. Repeated exposure facilitates perceptual learning by enhancing the ability to detect specific sensory attributes and to filter out irrelevant features. The impact of perceptual learning is noticeable in the wine industry, where trained experts demonstrate superior detection, differentiation, and identification skills. This acquired perception influenced consumer acceptance, appreciation, and quality evaluation by providing richer attributes for constructing mental representations of food. However, investigating the mechanisms behind the effect of perceptual learning on liking is challenging, due to complex interplay between cognitive and perceptual inputs. Future studies should extend beyond wine to better understand how perceptual learning shapes food choice driven by liking and appreciation.