If you think your drinking Red Wine from California or France, your likely to also like the food your eating more than if you knew the wine was from North Dakota...according to a study highlighted in Futurelab titled Wine and the Spillover Effect.
"..The experiment, conducted by Cornell professors Brian Wansink and Collin Payne, was fairly simple. A group of diners in an Illinois restaurant were served a free glass of Cabernet Sauvignon with the same fixed-price French dinner. All were told the wine came from Noah’s Winery (a non-existent brand), but half were told the origin was California and the other half North Dakota. In fact, all of the wine was “Two Buck Chuck,” a very inexpensive but brisk-selling wine from Charles Shaw Wines. Predictably, the “California” wine was rated as being better than the “North Dakota” wine. Here’s the interesting part, though: the diners who received the free glass of California wine also rated the food higher, ate 11% more food, and were more likely to make a return reservation.
Lest one think the result a fluke, another experiment tested MBA students at a wine and cheese reception in a similar way. At that event, the subjects receiving the California wine rated the wine 85% higher and the cheese 50% higher. (From Fine as North Dakota wine.)"
"...The more interesting aspect of the research, though, is the demonstrated spillover effect. In each case, the presumed characteristics of the wine affected the perception of the food; despite both wine and food being identical, a wine thought to be inferior made the food taste worse and the customer less likely to return."
What this highlights is that small variations make a big difference - and I know that's certainly true in painting and in dining:
"...Would Starbucks coffee make dessert taste better? Would quoting positive reviews and citing awards on a restaurant menu subconsciously convince people that their food tasted better? In a clothing store, might a very visible display of expensive designer brand clothing improve the perceived quality of nearby private label items? If something as trivial as the state of origin of a free glass of wine can color an entire dining experience, it’s clear there are no details too small to be ignored when creating a customer experience. "
Interesting thought for a Friday evening ..
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