Does taste matter? How anticipation of cola brands influences gustatory processing in the brain

TY - JOUR

T1 - Does taste matter? How anticipation of cola brands influences gustatory processing in the brain

AU - Kühn, Simone

AU - Gallinat, Jürgen

PY - 2013/1/1

Y1 - 2013/1/1

N2 - Brands surround us everywhere in daily life. Here we investigate the influences of brand cues on gustatory processing of the same beverage. Participants were led to believe that the brand that announced the administration of a Cola mixture provided correct information about the drink to come. We found stronger fMRI signal in right mOFC during weak compared to strong brand cues in a contrast of parametric modulation with subjective liking. When directly comparing the two strong brands cues, more activation in the right amygdala was found for Coca Cola cues compared with Pepsi Cola cues. During the taste phase the same beverage elicited stronger activation in left ventral striatum when it was previously announced by a strong compared with a weak brand. This effect was stronger in participants who drink Cola infrequently and might therefore point to a stronger reliance on brand cues in less experienced consumers. The present results reveal strong effects of brand labels on neural responses signalling reward.

AB - Brands surround us everywhere in daily life. Here we investigate the influences of brand cues on gustatory processing of the same beverage. Participants were led to believe that the brand that announced the administration of a Cola mixture provided correct information about the drink to come. We found stronger fMRI signal in right mOFC during weak compared to strong brand cues in a contrast of parametric modulation with subjective liking. When directly comparing the two strong brands cues, more activation in the right amygdala was found for Coca Cola cues compared with Pepsi Cola cues. During the taste phase the same beverage elicited stronger activation in left ventral striatum when it was previously announced by a strong compared with a weak brand. This effect was stronger in participants who drink Cola infrequently and might therefore point to a stronger reliance on brand cues in less experienced consumers. The present results reveal strong effects of brand labels on neural responses signalling reward.

KW - Adult

KW - Brain

KW - Carbonated Beverages

KW - Cues

KW - Female

KW - Humans

KW - Magnetic Resonance Imaging

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Taste

KW - Taste Perception

KW - Young Adult

U2 - 10.1371/journal.pone.0061569

DO - 10.1371/journal.pone.0061569

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 23637857

VL - 8

SP - e61569

JO - PLOS ONE

JF - PLOS ONE

SN - 1932-6203

IS - 4

ER -