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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by badhaircut on January 10, 2004, at 17:43:59
If this wouldn't move people to consider trying cognitive therapy, I wonder if anything could. <wink>
In brief: Researchers gave people Coke and Pepsi in unmarked cups. Most preferred Pepsi and an MRI showed reward-areas of their brains lit up when drinking Pepsi but not when drinking Coke. Researchers then told the people which cup was Coke and which was Pepsi. Most then changed their preference, saying that they liked the Coke better -- and DIFFERENT areas of their brains now lit up when drinking the Coke!
It wasn't the taste, it wasn't even the physiological response that let them experience greater pleasure in Coke. It was what they *thought* about Coke-vs.-Pepsi.
Here's a snippet of the only news article I could find on this:
- - - - - - -
NEUROMARKETERS READING CONSUMERS' MINDS (excerpted from the Toronto Star, Dec. 28, 2003)
-snip-
It's thought that [magnetic resonance imaging] images will be more reliable [for marketers] than the testimony of consumers, who are notoriously unaware of the reasons they choose one product over another.
There are neuromarketing experiments that portray both the promise and the peril of the approach. One was performed by Read Montague at the Baylor College of Medicine.
Montague first replicated the "Pepsi Challenge" from the late 1970s, when volunteers tasted Coke and Pepsi blind and expressed their preference. As was the case years ago, Pepsi was preferred more often.
Images of the subjects' brains while they were drinking showed that areas primarily devoted to feelings of reward became active.
But then Montague added a twist: He let people know when they were drinking Coke.
Two things happened.
First, many testers reversed their original preference for Pepsi, but more surprising, different areas of their brains lit up, especially a region in the front, the so-called prefrontal cortex.
This part of the brain is involved in thinking, considering, weighing evidence and making decisions. It is one or more steps removed from instantaneous reaction.
Montague reasoned that as soon as participants were aware they were drinking Coke, a whole new set of impressions invaded their decision-making: The strength of the brand took over and overrode their natural reaction.
This study heralds the promise of neuromarketing. Remember, the people in this study assumed they were making decisions based on taste, but taste took second place to image, a profound demonstration of how brain imaging can reveal aspects of thought of which the owners of the brain are unaware.
-snip-
Posted by Karen_kay on January 10, 2004, at 20:24:34
In reply to Pepsi, Coke, and CBT: case closed?, posted by badhaircut on January 10, 2004, at 17:43:59
Hmmm, I wonder if I can "think" myself into liking water more than cola? That's actually really interesting and I just have one thing to say.....My therapist is better than yours is...Nah na na na na na!!! (He's CBT by the way)...
This is the end of the thread.
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