Have You Tasted The MIT Brew?

Try It, You’ll Like It

The Influence of Expectation, Consumption, and Revelation
on Preferences for Beer

Leonard Lee, Shane Frederick, and Dan Ariely
Psychological Science, 2006

ABSTRACT—Patrons of a pub evaluated regular beer and ‘‘MIT brew’’ (regular beer plus a few drops of balsamic vinegar) in one of three conditions. One group tasted the samples blind (the secret ingredient was never disclosed). A second group was informed of the contents before tasting. A third group learned of the secret ingredient immediately after tasting, but prior to indicating their preference.

Not surprisingly, preference for the MIT brew was higher in the blind condition than in either of the two disclosure conditions. However, the timing of the information
mattered substantially. Disclosure of the secret ingredient significantly reduced preference only when the disclosure preceded tasting, suggesting that disclosure affected preferences by influencing the experience itself, rather than by acting as an independent negative input or by modifying retrospective interpretation of the experience.