Will You Choose “Chocolate Cake” or “Belgian Black Forest Double Chocolate Cake?”

Brian Wansink, Ph.D. is the John S. Dyson Professor of Food Marketing and Nutritional Science at Cornell University, and the Director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab.  He has been involved in over 250 studies, written over 100 journal articles, and has made over 200 presentations to governments, universities, companies, and culinary institutes on food and brand issues. Dr. Wansink is the author of Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think, Asking Questions, Marketing Nutrition, and Consumer Panels. The research findings of he and his colleagues have also contributed to the introduction of smaller "100 calorie" packages (to prevent overeating), the use of taller glasses in some bars (to prevent the overpouring of alcohol), and the use of elaborate names and mouth-watering descriptions on some chain restaurant menus (to improve enjoyment of the food).  He lives with his family in Ithaca, New York where he enjoys both French food and French fries each week.

Guest Blogger Brian Wansink--

We know what we like, right?

Not as much as we think. We often taste what we think we will taste; our expectations about the taste of a food can “trick our tastebuds,” making us think a food tastes much better or worse than it actually does. Psychologists call this “expectation assimilation” and “confirmation bias.” If you expect a food to taste good, it will; at the very least, it will taste better than if you originally thought it would only be so-so.

Consider two pieces of day-old chocolate cake. If one is named “chocolate cake,” and the other is named “Belgian Black Forest Double Chocolate Cake,” people will buy the second. That is no surprise. What is surprising is that after trying it, people will rate it as tasting better than an identical piece of “plain old cake.”

We know this is true because we tested it in the real world.

Cafeteria food like school hot lunches, has its share of image problems. A restaurant in Illinois was trying to enhance its image while also encouraging people to buy more of their vegetable side-dishes and healthier foods. To study how food names affected the taste expectations for the menu choices, we took six different foods – vegetables, main dishes, and low-fat desserts – and offered them on different days. Sometimes they had their traditional name and sometimes a descriptive name. Every day for six weeks we rotated these foods on and off the menu. One day Red Beans and Rice would be offered, and two weeks later it would reappear as Traditional Cajun Red Beans with Rice. Exact same food and price, just slightly different names.

Anybody who bought one of the six foods –the traditional or descriptive label --was discretely observed while they ate. When they were almost finished, they were asked to fill out a short survey asking them to rate the food and the cafeteria. There were a number of interesting discoveries.

The differences between the traditional and descriptive names were significant. The descriptively named foods sold 27% more and were rated as a better value while also rated as more appealing compared to the identical foods with the less attractive names. Furthermore, when asked what they thought about the foods, the diners eating the descriptively named foods tended to claim that they were “fantastic” or “great menu items.”

As you can see, our eating experiences are as much sensory as they are psychological. The research effectively illustrates the effect our psychological expectations have on our food choices and how we subsequently perceive that food. Modifying names is commonly used by restaurants and food establishments to achieve the same effects: increased sales and consumer ratings. When you eat at Wendy’s, you are eating more than a salad, you are eating a Garden Sensation Southwest Taco Salad.

The upside of this?

You can impress your family with your newly improved cooking skills. Just make sure to tell them you’re having savory grilled chicken with steamed pilaf rice. They’ll think it’s a whole lot better than the old chicken and rice dish you used to cook.

Related: Nutritional Facts of a Krispy Kreme!

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