Coke or Pepsi? The answer is in...

A Baylor College of Medicine study published in the respected academic journal Neuron has proven that branding matters and strongly suggests that two separate brain systems are involved in generating preferences...WOW!

In this study when tested only on taste (sensory info.) the brain of those tested acted similar regardless of soft drink served -- Coke or Pepsi. However, when the subjects were given visual "cues" (i.e. shown the can) more brain activity was recorded as a result of “stronger feelings” toward Coke…

This seems to prove that branding works!

Want the proof…check out this Abstract…and read the full report if you want to see the science in action!

Coca-Cola® (Coke®) and Pepsi® are nearly identical in chemical composition, yet humans routinely display strong subjective preferences for one or the other. This simple observation raises the important question of how cultural messages combine with content to shape our perceptions; even to the point of modifying behavioral preferences for a primary reward like a sugared drink. We delivered Coke and Pepsi to human subjects in behavioral taste tests and also in passive experiments carried out during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Two conditions were examined: (1) anonymous delivery of Coke and Pepsi and (2) brand-cued delivery of Coke and Pepsi. For the anonymous task, we report a consistent neural response in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex that correlated with subjects' behavioral preferences for these beverages. In the brand-cued experiment, brand knowledge for one of the drinks had a dramatic influence on expressed behavioral preferences and on the measured brain responses.

(source: www.sciencedirect.com)

posted by Mike Neumeier, APR @ 4:27 PM
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