How Beliefs and Values Influence What Tastes Good
'Meat is murder', or so the vegetarian's rallying cry goes. But according to a new study published in the Journal of Consumer Research, meat also means social power, and, for some, it's the power that really tastes good.
In this study, conducted by Michael Allen at the University of Sydney, Australia, and colleagues, participants were lied to about the contents of sausage rolls they were tasting.
In some conditions they were told they were tasting real beef sausage rolls when actually they were eating a vegetarian alternative that tasted the same. Then they were told they were eating the vegetarian alternative when actually they were eating the beef.
Meaty sausage rolls are aspirational
Allen and colleagues were inspired to this trickery by research demonstrating that how we experience something we eat is influenced by our beliefs. For example in one study people rated yoghurt and sandwiches labelled 'full fat' as tastier than those labelled 'low fat'. In fact both foods were identical.
The current study differed in that it was interested in how people's beliefs about social power affected their taste experiences. The researchers asked participants to complete a questionnaire that accessed the extent to which they seek to dominate others socially and acquire resources, wealth and public recognition.
The results showed that those who were low on social power values preferred the taste of the vegetarian sausage roll, regardless of whether they'd actually tasted the beef or the veggie alternative. Those high on social power, however, found the beef more tasty, even when it was just the veggie option labelled as beef.
Pepsi challenge
In a second test of this idea the researchers did a version of the Pepsi challenge. Participants were given either Pepsi or a store-brand cola to drink. But as before they were sometimes lied to about which one they had been given.
This time the researchers weren't interested in social power but instead on whether people endorsed the idea that life should be exciting and full of enjoyment - something that Pepsi's advertising encourages, and store-brand cola doesn't have much to say about.
Again, those who most strongly agreed that life should be full of excitement thought the cola they were told was Pepsi was more tasty, whether or not they actually were drinking Pepsi or not.
Can you taste the difference?
This research is a fascinating demonstration of how quite subtle differences in the way we think about food and drink can have significant influences on how we experience them. It lends more weight to certain explanations of some everyday phenomena:
- Organic food is all the rage and many claim it tastes better - others are not so sure. Organic food producers are probably relying at least partly on the psychological effect demonstrated in this study which will make their food taste better to those who endorse 'organic worldviews'
- Marketing values. Corporations spend fortunes associating their brands with certain values. In the case of food and beverage producers this study suggests the money is well spent, as long as the values they promote coincide with the consumer's. While we tend to assume corporations are mainly trying to convince us of the quality of their goods, the associated values are an important factor in the final experience.
- Beer tastes pretty disgusting when you first try it, but some people come to associate it with good times and socialising with friends. Then, over time, it starts to taste better. Others may choose wine or some other type of beverage. We tend to think of this as becoming accustomed to, or developing a taste for that drink. But how each type of beverage tastes is probably influenced by the values you associate with it. If the way you see beer doesn't accord with your values, then it probably won't taste so good.
Potato for President?
The authors of the study even wonder if healthy eating could be encouraged by changing the values associated with fruit and vegetables.
Whatever the outcome of the potential rebranding of fruit and vegetables (carrots march into war, aubergines win promotions and a potato is elected as President) this study is certainly a neat demonstration of one more aspect of our everyday experience which is directly influenced by our beliefs and values.
ยป The full paper is available on Scribd.
[Image credit: alisdair]
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Very interesting! PETA has done nothing to raise the social status of vegetarian food, with their often creepy and offensive campaigns.
The environmental movement has elevated organic and locally grown fruits and vegetables to be associated with a green and modern lifestyle, so I think they have done the job well.
I would also argue that when people give up meat, smoking, etc they are allowing their bodies to heal from the ingestion of hormones, antibiotics, nasty stuff in cigarettes, etc and their taste buds adjust as well.
When I gave up sugar, eventually yogurt tasted as sweet as any candy, and lolipops tasted like poison to me. All in my head? ;)
> When I gave up sugar, eventually yogurt tasted as sweet as any candy, and lolipops tasted like poison to me. All in my head? ;)
Quite possibly, as this study shows.
Jonathon, I'll buy that!
The switch did come at a time when I was trying to quit smoking, so I had also given up drinking, and I had begun mountain biking and trail running as well. So I'm sure somewhere in there I had physical changes going on as well. Either way, it was a pleasant switch!
I do think that my state of mind was improved when I chose a more concientious diet. It's too bad PETA can't focus more on that instead of using these weird tactics to intimidate people.
I love the Pepsi one. Branding is a very powerful influence. I can actually observe myself succumbing to it when I watch carefully.
this study is very interesting to me. I would have never considered becoming a vegetarian before i did and i didn't purposely start associating what people ate by their behavior, but i did start seeing people who ate meat as being more aggressive in behavior. I starting relating a lot of how people behaved to what they ate, i even stopped being veg for awhile because i was having such a time with the feeling i started developing towards people who weren't. I think i truly believed that people who ate meat were craving more power by their carnivorous behavior, it really made me look at myself as being very passive and naive. So i would have to say i would agree with the suggestion that food affects mood and behavior.. they do say "you are what you eat' right?
I totally agree that PETA is taking the wrong approach to things, it saddens me though because it is so hard when you become veg to deal with all of the ridicule that comes with it, and it can be really blinding and unbearable at times.
Interesting use of the concept of "worldview." Glad psychologists are interested in culture.
About beer, it might be useful to avoid generalizations as to how different beers taste to different people the first time they have it. Some people who never had beer can have very pleasant experiences with well-crafted beer.
Just fascinating!! I do have to say i think that non hormone/natural and, (this might be a little flaky) with all the new physics going about, the mental wellbeing of an animal play a large part in its healthy development. I am kind of veg but only on the side. I only eat meat that either I or another has hunted, killed and butchered. Everything is entitled to a full life, even if it is short and you end up as food(I guess all does). I truly hope I can either be eaten or left in a natural way in a nice forest.
The sample of the research paper cited is not broad enough to draw conclusions on the entire population of anything but the small university where is what conducted.
Now when I see ads for Carl's Jr. (Hardee's for you in the Eastern US) for items that clearly go far beyond actual food and become political/ideological statements, these studies help make those ads make much more sense for me.