Tasteissuchasubjectivematterthatwedon’tusuallyconductpreferencetestsforfood.Themostyoucansayaboutanyone’spreferenceisthatit’soneperson’sopinion.Butbecausethetwobigcola companies—Coca-ColaandPepsiColaaremarketedsoaggressivelywe’vewonderedhowbigaroletastepreferenceactuallyplaysinbrandloyalty.WesetupatastetestthatchallengedpeoplewhoidentifiedthemselvesaseitherCoca-ColaorPepsifans:Findyourbrandinablindtasting.

WeinvitedstaffvolunteerswhohadastronglikingforeitherCoca-ColaClassic(传统型)orPepsiDiet(低糖的)CokeorDietPepsi.Thesewerepeoplewhothoughtthey’dhavenotroubletellingtheirbrandfromtheotherbrand.

Weeventuallylocated19regularcoladrinkersand27dietcoladrinkers.Thenwefedthemfourunidentifiedsamplesofcolaoneatatimeregularcolasfortheonegroupdietversionsfortheother.WeaskedthemtotelluswhethereachsamplewasCokeorPepsi;thenweanalyzedtherecordsstatisticallytocomparetheparticipants’choiceswithwhatmereguess-workcouldhaveaccomplished.

Gettingallfoursamplesrightwasatoughtestbutnottootoughwethoughtforpeoplewhobelievedtheycouldrecognizetheirbrand.Intheendonly7outof19regularcoladrinkerscorrectlyidentifiedtheirbrandofchoiceinallfourtrials.Thediet-coladrinkersdidalittleworse----only7of27identifiedallfoursamplescorrectly.

Whilebothgroupsdidbetterthanchancewouldpredictnearlyhalftheparticipantsineachgroupmadethewrongchoicetwoormoretimes.Twopeoplegotallfoursampleswrong.Overallhalftheparticipantsdidaboutaswellonthelastroundoftastingasonthefirstsotirednessortasteburnoutwasnotafactor.OurpreferencetestresultssuggestthatonlyafewPepsiparticipantsandCokefansmayreallybeabletotelltheirfavoritebrandbytasteandprice

1.Accordingtothepassagethepreferencetestwasconductedinorderto________

A.showthataperson’sopinionabouttasteismereguess-work

B.comparetheabilityoftheparticipantsinchoosingtheirdrinks

C.findouttheroletastepreferenceplaysinaperson’sdrinking

D.revealwhichcolaismoretothelikingofthedrinkers

2.Itisimpliedbutnotstat