Customers' Expectations More Powerful Than Reality

People believe budget aspirin delivers less pain-killing benefit than higher priced competitors, even if they contain the same chemical properties. Ditto, wine drinkers who pay more for their vino believe it tastes better than a less expensive alternative -- even when the wine is identical.

That's why branding directed at shaping consumer expectations can be so powerful in motivating their buying habits, report Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton and co-author Dan Ariely, writing in the current Harvard Business Review.
"We know that people have favorite beverage brands, for instance, but in blind taste tests they frequently can't tell one from another: The value that marketers attach to the brand, rather than the drink's flavor, is often what truly adds to the taste experience."

Their short article How Concepts Affect Consumption explores several psychological ways in which consumers are motivated. For example, the pursuit of goals and even memories can drive consumption in significant ways, according to the authors. Marketers take note.