Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness
20 subjects (11 male, ages 21 to 30), screened for liking red wine; three wines presented as five, wine 1 at $5 and $45, wine 2 at $10 and $90, wine 3 at $35; pleasantness differed by price for both repeated wines (P < 0.001), correlation with price 0.59; no behavioural effect on intensity; mOFC BOLD higher at high price; follow-up blind session 8 weeks later showed no reported differences; authors raise experimenter-demand concern; price effect on mOFC larger for the $5 wine than the $90 wine.
20 subjects (11 male, ages 21 to 30), screened for liking red wine; three wines presented as five, wine 1 at $5 and $45, wine 2 at $10 and $90, wine 3 at $35; pleasantness differed by price for both repeated wines (P < 0.001), correlation with price 0.59; no behavioural effect on intensity; mOFC BOLD higher at high price; follow-up blind session 8 weeks later showed no reported differences; authors raise experimenter-demand concern; price effect on mOFC larger for the $5 wine than the $90 wine.
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Plassmann, H., O’Doherty, J., Shiv, B., & Rangel, A. (2008). ‘Marketing actions can modulate neural representations of experienced pleasantness.’ PNAS, 105(3), 1050-1054.