Topic for May. 24. ( Thur )

[Alex !]

Pepsi Paradox

Since the invention of cola, the rivalry between Pepsi and Coca-Cola (i.e., Coke) has been in existence. Coke has been the preferred brand over all other colas, despite the preference for Pepsi in blind taste tests. This has been coined as the “Pepsi Paradox.”

In the current study, we eval‎uated the “Pepsi Paradox” in both regular and diet cola. We entertained the possibility that preferences for cola brands would be roughly equivalent in South Carolina since it borders North Carolina and Georgia, the state of origin of Pepsi and Coke, respectively.

The data showed that most people stated they preferred Coke products to Pepsi products. However, in the blind taste test, diet Pepsi was preferred over diet Coke. Moreover, people who stated preference for Pepsi were able to distinguish cola brands better than those who stated preference for Coke.

The results suggest that the stated preference for Coca-Cola products, including Diet Coke, is based on factors other than taste. 

In the late 1800’s Coca-Cola and Pepsi, the world’s largest cola brands, were started in Georgia and North Carolina respectively. Since then, they have been engaged in something known as the “Cola Wars” that has pitted them against each other in an ultimate rivalry where the companies have come to represent much more than just a beverage.

However, in this so-called “Cola War,” Pepsi seems to have always been just one step behind, which leads to the question of “why?”

The collected data that showed the ability to identify a given brand was unrelated to whether or not that brand was the participant’s brand of choice, but since then, studies have increasingly shown otherwise. Is this due to the increase in marketing and advertising throughout the years? Clearly something has changed since then. 

Recently, it was reported that a taste preference to a mixture of colas (Coke, Pepsi and Royal Crown) were biased according to brand cues presented prior to the taste test.

Currently, when it comes to soda sales, Coke, Diet Coke, Pepsi and Diet Pepsi are ranked first, second, third and seventh respectively. It has been suggested that a strong brand image is the key to the dominance of Coke over Pepsi.

It has been proposed that this phenomenon is due to the idea of group membership: in that people will identify themselves with not only what they consume but by what they do not consume, so in the “Cola War,” Coca-Cola and Pepsi become diametrically opposed.

Studies have consistently found that there is much more to preference than taste or product quality and that it is reflected neurologically as well. To further this, the burgeoning field of Neuromarketing was developed in order to understand the biological markers associated with consumer behavior and attitudes towards brands. 

Evidence shows that there are nominal differences in neural activity when no brand information was given, but brain activity becomes more differentiated with brands and product preferences are introduced. In addition to it is associated with reward based decision making, when participants viewed familiar labels with good reputations versus lesser-known labels.

Participants were not impacted by brand information being present in taste tests. In fact, it made no difference on their preference. This suggests that if the decision-making does not work properly, our preference for Coke versus Pepsi effectively disappears. Thus, cola preference is not based on taste alone.

In the “Pepsi Paradox”, people state a preference for Coke but during blind taste tests choose Pepsi the majority of the time. In the current study, we tested the Pepsi Paradox in both regular and diet versions of cola.

We aimed to replicate the effect found in regular cola, and eval‎uated whether it extended to less popular cola products. In contradistinction to a brand preference for regular Coke over regular Pepsi, it is possible that there would be true taste preference for diet Coke over diet Pepsi.

Overall in the Cola Wars, Coke seems to be the current winner, despite the finding that the taste of Pepsi’s cola products is preferred over Coke cola products. This suggests that Coke has won the competition due to superior marketing and advertising campaigns. Therefore, Pepsi could potentially counteract the “Pepsi Paradox” with better advertising.