送禮的學問：越重越好？

The 17th-century French tragedian Pierre Corneille wrote: “The manner of giving is worth more than the gift.”

17世紀的法國悲劇作家皮埃爾·高乃依(Pierre Corneille)寫道：“送禮在于送，不在于禮。”

He had a point, according to Charles Spence, head of the Crossmodal Research Laboratory at the University of Oxford.

牛津大學跨模態(tài)研究實驗室(Crossmodal Research Laboratory)主任查爾斯·斯賓塞(Charles Spence)稱，高乃依此話有理。

The professor’s work focuses on how our brains perceive the world around us. His research has demonstrated that high-frequency sounds and curved shapes seem to enhance the sweetness in food, and a wine tastes better if it is heralded by the popping sound of a cork and drunk from a heavy glass. He has partnered with chefs like Ferran Adrià and Heston Blumenthal to create multisensory food experiences, and worked with advertising agencies and marketers at many international brands.

斯賓塞的研究領(lǐng)域是關(guān)于我們的大腦如何感知周遭的世界。他的研究表明，高頻聲音和彎曲的形狀，似乎能增強食物中的甜味;軟木塞拔出時的爆裂聲和沉重的酒杯，能讓葡萄酒口感更佳。他與費朗·阿德里亞(Ferran Adria)和赫斯頓·布盧門撒爾(Heston Blumenthal)等大廚合作，打造多感官的美食體驗，此外，與廣告公司和眾多國際品牌的營銷人員也有合作。

So, what’s his advice if you want to impress this holiday season?

那么，如果你想在今年的節(jié)日季給人留下個好印象，他有什么建議嗎?

Bulk it up 給重量加碼

“We’ve just published research on eating a box of chocolate,” Mr. Spence said. “If you hide a 30-gram (1 ounce) weight in a box of chocolate, that weight translates to a significant increase in perceived quality of the chocolate.”

“我們剛剛發(fā)表了一篇關(guān)于吃巧克力的研究報告，”斯賓塞說。“如果你把一個30克(1盎司)的重物藏在一盒巧克力里，能顯著改善對巧克力品質(zhì)的印象。”

There are exceptions, but the association between weight and the perception of luxury applies to numerous items including tableware, cutlery, perfume and wine, Mr. Spence said. “That’s why in a restaurant, a sommelier might subtly give you the bottle to weigh in your hand,” he added.

當然也存在例外，斯賓塞說，不過，體重和奢侈感之間的聯(lián)系適用于眾多物品，包括盤子和刀叉等餐具、香水，以及葡萄酒。“這就是為什么在餐館里，侍酒師可能會巧妙地把瓶子遞到你手里讓你掂重的原因。”

Black is basic

黑是基本色

Black is the color most associated with luxury because, Mr. Spence said, “it seems to be the color that we perceive to be the heaviest.”

黑色是與奢華聯(lián)系最為緊密的顏色，斯賓塞說，這是因為“它大概是我們認為最重的顏色”。

Such luxury cues are learned, rather than innate, so they can change over time. “I’m doing a lot of work on transparency at the moment; premium packaged goods should have a transparent window because it conveys freshness or quality,” he said.

這種關(guān)于奢侈的暗示系后天習得，并非先天就有，所以它們也會隨著時間的推移而改變。“目前，我在做透明度方面的研究;高級包裝的商品應(yīng)有一個透明窗口，這就能讓新鮮度或品質(zhì)被看見，”他說。

But the trend is recent, the professor added, because “traditionally luxury goods used to have opaque packaging. I think it has to do with the current desire for authenticity.”

不過，斯賓塞補充道，這種趨勢是最近才出現(xiàn)的，因為“傳統(tǒng)的奢侈品往往采用不透明的包裝。我認為這與當下對真實性的渴望有關(guān)。”

Layer it on 分層包裝

Unnecessary wrapping can be an ecological concern but, when it comes to luxury goods like wine in a presentation case, it does make an impression.

過度包裝可能是一個環(huán)保問題，但在涉及奢侈品時，比如放在展示盒中的葡萄酒，它的確能給人留下深刻的印象。

“Tissue layers are really good,” Mr. Spence said, “because the crinkle adds an extra sense to the experience.”

“一層層的包裝綿紙非常好用，”斯賓塞說，“因為褶皺讓人特別有感覺。”

Consider a squirt of fragrance in the box or wrapping, and, if you want to cover all sensory bases, work out some way for classical music to be playing when the gift is opened because we associate it with quality.

想想盒子里或者包裝里撲鼻的香味吧，如果你想觸及所有的感官，還可以想辦法在打開禮物時來點古典音樂，因為我們總是把它與品質(zhì)聯(lián)系在一起的。

Engaging several senses at once is beneficial. “The brain combines the inputs from each sense, both to determine what something is, but also to determine a hedonic or reward value,” Mr. Spence said. Also, the more stimuli to the senses, the more activity is produced in the orbitofrontal cortex, a small part of brain situated just behind the eyes. And the more activity there, the more rewarding something is perceived to be.

同時觸及多種感官是有幫助的。斯賓塞說，“大腦把每種感官的輸入綜合在一起，這既可以判斷是何物，也能決定享樂或者獎勵的價值大小。”此外，對感官的刺激越多，眶額皮層，也就是眼睛后方一小部分的大腦，就越活躍。那里越活躍，人們就會覺得越有價值。

You can go too far 當心做得過火

“Engaging one sense is more effective, but you can potentially have an incongruence if that extra sense doesn’t match the others,” the professor said.

“觸及一種感覺會帶來更好的效果，不過，如果這種額外的感覺與其他的感覺不配，就有可能造成不協(xié)調(diào)，”斯賓塞說。

He offered as an example the Portuguese denim brand Salsa, which embedded its jeans with microcapsules of perfume chosen to match the color of the item — a lemon scent to match yellow jeans — and to diffuse over time.

他以葡萄牙的牛仔服飾品牌Salsa為例，這個品牌在牛仔褲里嵌入了香水微膠囊，并且與不同的顏色搭配，比如檸檬味搭配黃色牛仔褲，而且它隨著時間而慢慢釋放。

“It totally backfired,” said Mr. Spence — who had no part in the project. “It proved too much for consumers.”

“這就完全適得其反了，”斯賓塞說(他本人沒有參與到這個項目中)。“這對消費者來說，就做得太過了。”