Current Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Preferences for Brands That Contain the Letters of Our Own Name

Current Research in the Behavioral Sciences: Preferences for  Brands That Contain the Letters of Our Own Name

A recent study reported in the Journal of Consumer Research (Brendl, Chattopadhyay, Pelham, & Carvallo, 2005) is an example of the kind of research that behavioral scientists conduct, and which demonstrates that people are frequently unaware of the causes of their own behavior. Their research demonstrated that, at least under certain conditions (and although they do not know it), people frequently prefer brand names that contain the letters of their own name to brand names that do not contain the letters of their own name.

         The research participants were recruited in pairs, and were told that the research was about a taste test of tea. The experimenter created for each pair of participants two teas by adding the word stem “oki” to the fi rst three letters of each participant’s fi rst name. For example, for Jonathan and Elisabeth these would have been Jonoki and Elioki. (Fortunately, the researchers did not encounter anyone named Kari!) 

        The participants were then shown 20 packets of tea that were supposedly being tested. Each packet was labeled with a made-up Japanese name (for instance “Mataku” or “Somuta”), with two of them being the brand names just constructed. The experimenter explained that each participant would taste only two teas and would be allowed to choose one packet of these two to take home. One of the two participants was asked to draw slips of paper to select the two brands that would be tasted at this session. However, the drawing was rigged so that the two brands containing the participants’ initials were always chosen for tasting. Then, while the teas were being brewed, the participants completed a task designed to heighten their needs for self esteem, and which was expected to increase the desire to choose a brand that had one’s own initials. Specifically, the participants all wrote about an aspect of themselves that they would like to change. 

         After the teas were ready, the participants tasted them. The two teas were actually identical, except that a drop of lemon juice had randomly been added to one of them so that they did not taste exactly the same. After tasting, the participants chose to take a packet of one of the teas home with them. After they made their choice, the participants were asked why they chose the tea they had chosen, and then the true purpose of the study was explained to them. 

          The results of this study found that participants chose the tea that included the fi rst three letters of their own name 64 percent of the time, whereas they chose the brand that included the first three letters of their partner’s name only 36 percent of the time. Furthermore, the participants did not know why they chose the tea they chose. Over 90 percent of the students thought that they had chosen on the basis of taste, whereas only 5 percent of the respondents mentioned something about the brand names. 

       Can you determine what type of research design was used by the researchers? Does the fact that the participants were unable to explain why they chose the tea that they chose surprise you? The author’s analysis of the study is available at the companion website to this book.