Can marketing really change our preferences? The case of Pepsi vs. Coca-Cola

Is marketing capable of changing our purchasing choices? The science has spoken.

A few years ago, the company PepsiCothe manufacturer and bottler of the beverage Pepsilaunched a very particular advertising campaign. It was known around the world as "the Pepsi challenge" and basically consisted of a social experiment that sought to prove that the public, in general, preferred the flavor of Pepsi to that of Coca-Colawhich was, and still is today, the main competing brand.

In public places in many cities around the world, tasting tables were set up where people could try both soft drinks, under a procedure called "blind tasting". That is, participants took a sip of one of the drinks, then took a sip of the other, and then had to determine their preference, stating which of the two they liked better.

As the company expected, the majority of people said they liked Pepsi better.. Of course, the company made sure that these results were publicized and made known to the ends of the earth.

Effective marketing: Coca-Cola's reaction

Coca-Cola's response was swift. First they shouted to the skies, and then they set out to replicate the advertising campaign, but this time, obviously, starting from the exact opposite premise.

And indeed, what they were able to observe was that most people, when it came to choosing, were inclined to choose Coca-Cola.

The contradiction in the contrasting data quickly became apparent. Either the people in Pepsi's research and marketing department had misrepresented the data and were lying, or the people at Coca-Cola were. Both companies could not be right.

An independent investigation of Pepsi and Coca-Cola

It seems that the mystery reached the ears of a group of beverage fanatic scientists who, driven by curiosity, set out to do their own research. They were determined to find out which of the two brands would win the public's preference..

But they introduced a twist to the process. This time, while the participants were drinking the soda, their brains were to be monitored under functional magnetic resonance imaging technology.

What is functional MRI?

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI for short) is a tool based on the use of a device that allows scientists to observe, live and in real time, which group of neurons are activated in a person's brain while being asked to perform some activity; in this particular case, tasting a dark, bubbly drink.In this particular case, tasting the dark, bubbly beverage.

To do this, the person must be introduced, horizontally, inside a resonator. His or her head is held in a harness, since it is necessary that he or she does not move so that brain activity can be monitored.

This is possible because this type of technology makes it possible to measure the metabolism of nerve cells that shape the different structures that make up the brain. Wherever there is increased Blood flow and oxygen consumption, it is deduced that neurons are firing and doing their work.

How did the soda get to the participant's mouth in such uncomfortable experimental conditions? Simple: through a small hose that made it possible for the drink to travel from far away.

The power of the Coca-Cola brand on our brain

And here comes the truly surprising part.

Researchers found that both when people drank Pepsi and when they tried Coke, their brains were engaged in what is commonly called the "pleasure circuit, what is commonly referred to as the "pleasure circuit" was at work in their brains.. This refers to certain encephalic areas, which are responsible for the enjoyment we experience when we are exposed to circumstances that are to our liking. It can be drinking soda, as in this case, but also experiences of a very varied nature, such as having sex, watching our favorite TV series, reading a book we are passionate about, eating churros filled with dulce de leche, or smoking marijuana.

But the curious thing is that, when the people who participated in the experiment were informed of the brand of soda they were drinking, something else happened: another region of the brain was activated.

This time, it was a very different structure from the previous one, called the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. dorsolateral prefrontal cortexIt is located approximately behind each of the temples of the human skull.

What is the function of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex?

Well, this part of the brain is considered to be the anatomical basis of several higher-order mental processes specific to humans, including concept formation and the organization and regulation of intellectual functions.

Simplifying things a bit, when the participants drank soda without knowing the brand, the brain's pleasure circuit was turned on, triggered by the pleasant sensation coming from the pleasant sensation coming from the soda.triggered by the pleasant sensation coming from the taste buds.

But when they were informed of the brand of the drink, the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was also ignited. In other words, the area of the brain where the knowledge and valuation of the brand is located was also activated..

And here is a detail that is not minor. The dorsolateral neurons were much more laborious when people drank Coca-Cola compared to when they drank Pepsi. The resonator monitors showed much more intense activity when participants were aware that the brand they were savoring was the number one in the world.

As it turns out, the only procedural difference between the two original advertising campaigns was that the Coca-Cola people told those who came to drink at their tasting stations which glass contained which soda. Moreover, the containers were marked with their respective logos.

On the other hand, in the "Pepsi challenge," participants made value judgments based solely on the taste of the beverages they were tasting, since they were unaware of which was which. In this case, the choice was based strictly on the degree of sensory satisfaction experienced by the person.

When marketing trumps taste

What does all this lead to? First of all, for most people, everything seems to indicate that Pepsi is tastier than Coca-Cola..

Second, when people know what they are drinking, they prefer Coke, and this choice is driven primarily by brand power.

It seems incredible, but a single brand name can carry enough weight to trump the net sensory enjoyment we experience when we consume a product. we experience when we consume a product. A simple brand can trump sense-based enjoyment, twisting our decisions and leading us to opt for an alternative that gives us less pleasure than another.

When participants in the experiment had the expectation that they were going to drink Coca-Cola, they found it tastier than the competition. On the other hand, when they did not expect to drink Coca-Cola, the field was paved for real sensory pleasure, clean and unconditioned, based solely on taste, and here Pepsi clearly won. Surprising.

All commercial brands have a value for us. And that value has a place in our brains. Marketing companies have known this for a long time. Their job is precisely to create as much added value as possible through the brand, which brings the product to a privileged position in the consumer's mind. The instrument used for this purpose is the incessant advertising bombardment by all possible means of communication. Something Coca-Cola knows and does very well.