Perceptual illusion in the supermarket

In a recent article published in the journal "iPerception", Prof. Dr. Karl Gegenfurtner from Justus Liebig University Giessen (JLU) shows that colour assimilation makes unripe oranges more appetising.

What has long been known in the fruit and vegetable trade is apparently based on sound science: fruit sells better if it is in a net that bears the colour of perfect specimens of its variety. This is based on a perceptual illusion known as colour assimilation or confetti illusion: objects appear to take on the colour of a pattern placed on top of them. 

The work was featured, for example, in Spektrum der Wissenschaft, Geo, Forschung und Wissen, and Scientific American. Further information you can find here. For the publication click here