The same wine, 2 different prices
In a well-known experiment, people tasted wine while in a scanner and were told its price. Some samples were repeated: the same drink was presented as expensive or cheap. When the price was higher, participants said it tasted better. And it was not just what they said: an area of the cortex whose activity is commonly used to gauge how pleasant something feels was more active. There were few participants, around 20, but later studies found similar results.
You might think people simply do not want to look like they cannot tell good from bad, so they tailor their answer to the label. But it is harder to tailor a brain response to a label than a sentence. It seems the experience itself changes, not just the story you tell about it.
The reverse test is just as convincing. When the price is hidden, the advantage of expensive wine disappears: in an analysis of more than 6,000 blind tastings by people without special training, expensive wines were not rated as more enjoyable - if anything, the relationship was slightly negative. Among trained tasters, a small advantage for expensive wines remained.
How expectation reaches your tongue
Taste does not arrive fully formed. Signals from your receptors are sparse and ambiguous, so the experience is assembled from the signal and a prediction. Price is a very handy prediction: short, clear, and available before your first sip.
From there, expectation travels through several channels at once, and you cannot notice them from the inside. You do not feel yourself adjusting for the price. You just taste it.
- ExpectationPrice tells you what to expect. A prediction of the taste is ready before the sip - and becomes part of the taste itself.
- AttentionWith something expensive, you look for virtues; with something cheap, flaws. There is something to latch onto in any drink.
- InterpretationThe same astringency can become “structure” or “it makes your mouth pucker.” An ambiguous sensation shifts toward the label.
It works downward, too. In one experiment, everyone received the same energy drink, but some were told they got it at a discount. Then everyone solved problem-solving tasks - and the “discounted” group did noticeably worse. Expecting a weaker effect made the effect weaker.
The more ambiguous the sensation, the more room there is for expectation: wine, coffee, olive oil, perfume. Where the difference is obvious, the label is powerless - something sour will not become tasty because of a high price. And the size of the effect varies from person to person: it seems to be greater in those who more strongly believe that price signals quality.
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Sources
- Wine and scanner: Plassmann, O'Doherty, Shiv, Rangel, PNAS, 2008. Blind tastings: Goldstein et al., Journal of Wine Economics, 2008. Discount experiment: Shiv, Carmon, Ariely, 2005