Science Spark : The Coke Effect

The Coke effect is a kind of scientific myth : no scientist even saw it, but everybody has heard about it and speak about it.

Thanks to two psychologists working in Berlin who recently published their work, the Coke effect is coming to live... In their experiment, they first made a drink by mixing 1/3 of Coke, 1/3 of Pepsi, 1/3 of River Cola (discount brand). They then invited consumers to taste this drink, letting them believe it was either Coke, or Pepsi, or River or an new one made in the lab. They then asked them rate the drink, and they as well recorded the brain activity thanks to MRI.

Results : not only participants significantly rated higher the drink when they were told it was Coke or Pepsi, but their brain was also more active in this case.

This is the Coke effect...

Does Taste Matter? How Anticipation of Cola Brands Influences Gustatory Processing in the Brain 
Simone Kühn and Jürgen Gallinat DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0061569