What your taste in ice cream says about your personality
Can your taste in ice cream really highlight your personality? Greg Tucker’s spent more than 20 years working with the world’s biggest food and drinks companies examining the psychology behind our tastes, including learning how flavours of ice cream relate to personality traits. “I have researched ice cream in Japan, Italy, the Netherlands, France, the UK and USA,” explains Greg who conducts the research for The Marketing Clinic. The expert says it's perfectly possible for your personality to match up to more than one flavour. “You will find that the person who only likes one flavour is unusual. What you have is a person who wants vanilla one day, and the next salted caramel, but there's a balance of usages that reveal something about them. “Ice cream is not a complete window on your soul. If I see you eating an ice cream, I can’t immediately say everything about your personality. But I can see what's going on in terms of the mood in that moment.” Most importantly Greg, says don’t be ashamed or embarrassed by your favourite flavour in ice cream, “There is no such thing as a bad ice cream!” On with the personality traits. Click on your favourite flavour below and it will reveal what Greg believes this says about your personality… The science behind the ice cream personality profiles When working with food brands Greg conducts studies with focus groups and through testing can define what character traits are linked to each flavour. Greg's process involves three stages: The stimulus: People on the study have to consider every part of eating an ice cream - from the unwrapping and smell that hits you, and all the way through to swallowing it once it's melted in your mouth. The group are given a selection of words which they have to choose from which describes each element.The psychometrics: “This is personal to each person and is all about the quality of the experience and how you'd describe it. This helps to match the stimulus to emotions.”The mood spectrum: "This is something I’ve developed, which is a way of matching the flavours around personality profiles. There are 40 words to describe the emotions triggered in the consumption of ice cream.” The stimulus: People on the study have to consider every part of eating an ice cream - from the unwrapping and smell that hits you, and all the way through to swallowing it once it's melted in your mouth. The group are given a selection of words which they have to choose from which describes each element. The stimulus: People on the study have to consider every part of eating an ice cream - from the unwrapping and smell that hits you, and all the way through to swallowing it once it's melted in your mouth. The group are given a selection of words which they have to choose from which describes each element. The psychometrics: “This is personal to each person and is all about the quality of the experience and how you'd describe it. This helps to match the stimulus to emotions.” The psychometrics: “This is personal to each person and is all about the quality of the experience and how you'd describe it. This helps to match the stimulus to emotions.” The mood spectrum: "This is something I’ve developed, which is a way of matching the flavours around personality profiles. There are 40 words to describe the emotions triggered in the consumption of ice cream.” The mood spectrum: "This is something I’ve developed, which is a way of matching the flavours around personality profiles. There are 40 words to describe the emotions triggered in the consumption of ice cream.” “Then through a series of questioning, I use techniques to work out which parts of the stimulus matter and how the emotions and personality traits are linked to them.” Greg says it’s impossible for people on the studies to try and manipulate the data. “There's no right or wrong answer. For example, with vanilla, if I asked: ‘Is it a taste of childhood?’ People don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing.” Originally published July 2022.