Mind: Taste Test: Swiss Chocolate vs. Made in China

Swiss chocolate's reputation influences how people rate it in taste tests, a new study shows.

The knowledge set up participants' expectations and seemed to change their gustatory experiences. When people learn the country of origin (or price in another study) before they sample the chocolate it influences their expectations. When they are told the chocolate is from Switzerland, they expect it to taste good and when they are told it is from China they expect it to taste bad. So they like the same chocolate more when they are told it is from Switzerland.

When some of the participants were told the "origin" of the chocolate after they had eaten it, the opposite was found: They rated the China chocolate as better tasting than the Swiss bar.

"When they learn country of origin afterwards, it tells them what the sampling experience should have been like," study researcher Keith Wilcox, assistant professor of marketing at Babson College in Massachusetts, told LiveScience. "When they are told it is from Switzerland, it is not as good as they would have expected it to be, so they like it less. Similarly, when they are told it is from China, it is not as bad as they would have expected it to be, so they like it more."

The researchers got the same results when they conducted a similar study using price instead of country of origin, with participants expecting the more expensive chocolate to taste better.

For more, see Taste Test: Swiss Chocolate vs. Made in China by Remy Melina, July 19, 2011 at LiveScience.