Personal Values Deceive Taste Buds (surprise study on meat eaters)

July 18, 2008

Just another example of the selfishness and hypocrisy of the human race. (Except us of course, LOL)!

[science Daily]ScienceDaily (July 18, 2008) — Many heavy meat eaters believe they eata lot of meat because of the taste. But according to groundbreakingnew research the reason that a beef burger tastes better than a veggieburger to some people has more to do with values than actual taste.Authors Michael W. Allen (University of Sydney), Richa Gupta(University of Nashville), and Arnaud Monnier (National EngineerSchool for Food Industries and Management, France) conducted a seriesof studies that examined the symbolic meaning of foods and beverages.They found that when it came to tasting meat or soft drinks, whatinfluenced participants was what they thought they had eaten ratherthan what they actually ate.The authors note that meat has an association with social power, andpeople who scored high in the authors' Social Power Value Endorsementmeasure believed that a meat-containing

item tasted better than avegetarian alternative, even when both products were actuallyidentical (one was mis-represented). Similarly, participants whosupported the values symbolized by Pepsi (Exciting Life, Social Power,and Recognition) gave a more favorable rating to the product theythought was Pepsi—even though they were drinking the low-priceWoolworth cola....... Instead, what influenced taste evaluation was what they thoughtthey had eaten and whether that food symbolized values that theypersonally supported … strategies that might persuade heavy meateaters to change their diet include changing the cultural associationsof fruits and vegetables to encompass values that meat eaters endorse(e.g., power and strength), or challenging heavy meat eaters'assumptions about what tastes good by using in-store (blind) tastetests or showing them results of studies such as this

one."-- full story:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080716205208.htm