The effect of an analytical appreciation of colas on consumer beverage choice

•We examined if analyzing beverage taste changes a taster’s favorite drink.•Participants blind-tasted two brands of cola, Coke and Pepsi.•Those who did not analyze their reasons were more likely to favor Coke.•Analyzing positive reasons increased the percentage of those who preferred Pepsi.•Analyzing negative reasons led to no clear preferences between the two brands.

This experiment examined if the analysis of beverage taste changes the favorite drink of a taster. Participants blind-tasted two brands of cola, Coke and Pepsi. Those who were not asked to verbalize their reactions to each tended to prefer Coke over Pepsi; those who expressed them were more likely to favor Pepsi; and those who indicated an aversion to both showed no clear preference. Participants found it easier to describe their predilection for Pepsi than for Coke but experienced equal difficulty in verbalizing their negative reactions to both colas. These findings suggest that when people taste carefully they tend to focus on the attributes of drinks that they find salient and that seem relevant to their preferences, leading them to choose the one with these attributes as their favorite.