The Influence of Fixed Rhythm Auditory Icon on Food Intake Mimicry

Abstract

Mimicry is defined as the activity of copying the behaviour or speech of other people. Mimicry can play an important role in influencing human behaviour which is very useful in persuasive technology. Thus in this study, an experiment was conducted to determine the effect of fixed rhythm auditory icon on food intake mimicry based on gender. Thirty males and thirty females were involved by screening their food intake patterns individually in eating an apple without listening to any sound. Next, a fixed rhythm auditory icon which is represented by a sound of biting an apple for every ten second was introduced while each participant was eating an apple during the experiment. Food intake mimicry is defined as eating that occurs within five seconds of hearing the fixed rhythm auditory icon. The findings showed that both males and females were influenced by the fixed rhythm auditory icon with an average of 48 and 50% of food intake mimicry respectively. However, there was insignificant different between male and female average mimicry percentage, which indicated both gender has similar tendency of food intake mimicry. It was noticeable that food intake mimicry started only after the participants have engaged in half of the experiment time. Perhaps by prolonging the eating time, the mimicry percentage will increase because the person is already adapting to the fixed rhythm. Thus, these findings indicated that auditory icon can play a role in influencing good eating behaviour by imposing eating slowly which is advantageous for health.