A name can create an expectation that shapes how something tastes, because perception is reality and words frame our perception.s Don’t just take my word for it. There’s research!
People Taste Words
In this #tellthetruths video I cite a famous study by Alfred Korzybski, though I can’t manage to remember his name.
Check it out and then let’s talk. This one could get sticky!
This video originally appeared in LinkedIn.
If you enjoyed this video, check out:
From Icky To Irresistible: Deception or Genius?
The Political Power of Naming: Who Controls the Words, Controls the World
TRANSCRIPT:
Hey guys, it’s Rebeca with BrandTrue and I… this video, I’ve named it People Taste Words Because it’s about this idea that words can shape our perception, even shape what we’re tasting in our mouths.
And there’s a wonderful study, famous study by a professor named Alfred Korzybski. (I’ll put it down below because I’ve forgotten it entirely! It has Z’s in it and Ys, I can’t remember it.) And he was giving a lecture walking through the room, he had a bag that he starts pulling out little cookies, biscuits and eating them. And he shared them with students in the first row. And after a little while, he pulls them out of the bag and discloses that they’re actually dog biscuits. And students that had agreed with him, “oh yeah, these are tasty,” immediately are revolted to learn that they’re dog biscuits and run from the room. Kind of like, you know, like getting sick at the idea that they’re eating dog biscuits.
Well, the ingredients didn’t change. The taste, the texture, the smell didn’t change, but the name changing completely altered their experience. And we see this all the time, maybe less dramatically, but we know as marketers, as brand builders, that we are trying to find those words, that shape reality, that shift things over in our favor that hopefully can reframe things.
Nothing wrong with that, but I just want to talk about it for a second because I think it’s a slippery slope. I think that it can slide into being deceptive. I think in some contexts it sometimes does. And that it behooves us to be really conscious of… while we want to shape things, we shouldn’t try to bend them or hide them and I don’t know how I got onto a political tangent, but hey, there it is. I think it’s interesting. I think I’d like to talk with you guys. We get into such good discussions about words and reality. Let me know what you think. Thanks. Bye!
