MSGID: 1:317/3 6279eab8   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Why science doesn't help sell chocolate chip cookies    
      
     Date:   
         May 9, 2022   
     Source:   
         Ohio State University   
     Summary:   
         People don't want science anywhere near their delicious chocolate   
         chip cookies. But they're happy to have science create body wash   
         that fights odor-causing bacteria.   
      
      
      
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   People don't want science anywhere near their delicious chocolate chip   
   cookies.   
      
   But they're happy to have science create body wash that fights   
   odor-causing bacteria.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   In a series of 10 studies, researchers found that people don't like   
   science being invoked to market products that bring pleasure, like   
   cookies. Instead, consumers see science as more appropriate for selling   
   utilitarian goods for which scientific research has created a better   
   product.   
      
   The issue has to do with how the lay public views science and scientists,   
   said Rebecca Reczek, co-author of the study and professor of marketing   
   at The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business.   
      
   "People see science as cold, but competent. That doesn't pair well with   
   products designed to be warm and pleasurable to consumers," Reczek said.   
      
   "But the cold competence of science is seen as perfectly appropriate   
   to sell practical products that serve a utilitarian purpose."  Reczek   
   conducted the study with Aviva Philipp-Muller, a recent graduate from   
   Ohio State's doctoral program in social psychology. Their findings were   
   published recently in the Journal of Consumer Research.   
      
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   In one study, the researchers had 511 college students from two   
   universities come into a lab to taste test chocolate chip cookies. All   
   were presented a menu with three cookie choices -- Option A, B and C --   
   that were described in different terms. They selected one of the options,   
   which they then got to actually taste.   
      
   Half of the participants had a menu where Option A was described as having   
   "Luscious chocolatey taste." The other half saw Option A described as   
   "Scientifically developed to have a luscious chocolatey taste." Option   
   B and C were always the same and never mentioned science.   
      
   Results showed that using the science appeal decreased the likelihood   
   that participants would choose Option A by 30%.   
      
   But some consumer goods can have both a practical and a pleasurable   
   purpose.   
      
   For those products, science can be a positive selling point -- or not -   
   - depending on whether it is matched with the product's utilitarian or   
   pleasurable purpose.   
      
   Take body wash, for instance.   
      
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   In one study, the researchers presented participants with what they   
   said was a new body wash and asked them how likely they were to purchase   
   it. When participants were told that the lather will "immerse your senses   
   in an indulgent experience" they were less likely to say they would buy   
   it if it were marketed as a science-based product.   
      
   But they were more likely to say they would buy the same body wash   
   based on the science appeal if they were told the lather will "wash   
   away odor-causing bacteria."  "When practicality and science are paired   
   together, that makes sense to consumers," Philipp-Muller said.   
      
   The researchers took a closer look at this disconnect between science   
   and pleasurable products.   
      
   Participants in one study rated marketing slogans for an indulgent   
   smoothie brand as "disjointed" if it mentioned the smoothie's "rigorous   
   scientific development process." They were also more likely to say   
   "something seemed weird about the slogan."  "When pleasure and science   
   are paired together, that feels disjointed to consumers and they aren't   
   interested in those kinds of products," Philipp- Muller said. "It   
   seems weird to have the coldness of science try to sell you something   
   pleasurable."  But not everyone thinks scientists are cold and aloof. One   
   study found that participants who worked in a STEM field (science,   
   technology, engineering and math) didn't feel scientists were cold and   
   aloof and also didn't mind scientific appeals for pleasurable products.   
      
   Another group of people who were fine with science being used to sell   
   pleasurable products were those who said they had a high degree of trust   
   in scientists, Reczek said.   
      
   And that points to another way to make science a more acceptable way to   
   market pleasurable and indulgent products.   
      
   "We could update people's beliefs about science and scientists. We could   
   let them know that scientists can be warm and friendly," Reczek said.   
      
   And people can be reminded that science is not just used in utilitarian   
   and tech products, Philipp-Muller said. "Science is in your yogurt and   
   your cookies and in your shampoo, as well," she said. "People just don't   
   know it."  Reczek said the findings have implications beyond marketing.   
      
   "The fact that consumers have stereotypes about science and scientists may   
   be a barrier to accepting science, whether it is products or scientific   
   findings," she said.   
      
   "People need a more realistic view of what scientists are really like   
   and how science is a part of our everyday lives, including many of the   
   products we use."   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Ohio_State_University. Original   
   written by Jeff Grabmeier. Note: Content may be edited for style and   
   length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Aviva Philipp-Muller, John P Costello, Rebecca Walker Reczek. Get   
      Your   
         Science out of Here: When Does Invoking Science in the Marketing   
         of Consumer Products Backfire? Journal of Consumer Research, 2022;   
         DOI: 10.1093/jcr/ucac020   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2022/05/220509100922.htm   
      
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