The real reason chip packets are so noisy
There’s a reason why chip packets loudly crackle when you open them – it makes you think the chips are fresher and crunchier.
Manufactures purposely make noisy packaging because the chips taste fresher if you can hear the rustle, according to Charles Spence, a professor of experimental psychology at Oxford University.
In a “sonic taste” experiment, Professor Spence asked people to munch on crisps while wearing headphones. He found that the participants rated the chips as stale when they couldn’t hear the crunch of chips.
He concluded: “The sound of the food matters. The sound of the packaging matters and atmospheric sounds matter.”
Professor Spence also found that noisy chip packaging raises the expectations and anticipation of the taste of the chips to come.
He wrote: “The sounds of the packaging in which a food is experienced — think the rattle of the crisps packet, or the pop of the champagne cork — can also influence our enjoyment of what comes next too.
“Whenever we hear the pop of the champagne cork, or the rattle of the crisp packet, certain expectations automatically come to mind.”
It’s a psychological trick that manufactures use to their advantage as Professor Spence found there’s no other reason that chip packets will be noisy.
“There’s no reason in terms of product preservation for the noisy packets,” he said.
“It must just be some marketing person who thought, ‘It’s a noisy food, it’s got to have the right expectations for the packaging.”