Expectations influence sensory experience in a wine tasting

Appetite. 2009 Jun;52(3):762-765. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2009.02.002. Epub 2009 Feb 11.

Abstract

Information about a product may shape consumers' taste experience. In a wine tasting experiment, participants received (positive or negative) information about the wine prior to or after the tasting. When the information was given prior to the tasting, negative information about the wine resulted in lower ratings compared to the group that received positive information. No such effect was observed when participants received the information after the tasting but before they evaluated the wine. Results suggest that the information about the wine affected the experience itself and not only participants' overall assessment of the wine after the tasting.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial

MeSH terms

  • Analysis of Variance
  • Association
  • Choice Behavior
  • Cognition / physiology
  • Female
  • Food Preferences / physiology
  • Food Preferences / psychology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Sensation
  • Set, Psychology*
  • Taste / physiology*
  • Wine*
  • Young Adult