CAN YOU TASTE
THE BRAND
IN YOUR COFFEE?
AS A SPECIALTY COFFEE COMMUNITY, WE
PAY A LOT OF ATTENTION TO THE DIVERSE
RANGE OF TACTILE FLAVOURS THAT CAN BE
DISCOVERED IN OUR FAVOURITE BREW.
Whether at home, in a coffee shop or in the workplace, our
surroundings also have a big impact on where and when we
choose to savour the moment. Although personal preferences
may differ, we all recognise the range of factors that influence
our purchasing decisions when it comes to coffee.
Another factor that we may, or may not, consider is the
power of the brand. Multinational coffee chains know
the importance of this and invest huge amounts into
researching, strengthening and protecting their brand
identity in the pursuit of keeping consumer loyalty. Likewise,
attracting customers and keeping their custom is crucial to
commercial success for the independent specialty coffee
shops and roasteries.
But how important is the ‘brand effect’ in the speciality
coffee industry and, indeed, if we judge coffee primarily on
taste alone, does it actually matter? Surprisingly, there is little
research in the public domain that investigates how branding
has an impact on sensory perception from a neuro-scientific
perspective, and therefore our own buying preferences.
WHAT IS A BRAND?
A brand defines brand as a set of associations that a
person - or group of people - makes with a company,
product, service, individual or organisation.
Source: Design Council
THE STUDY
In an effort to shed some light on this area, Imane Bouzidi,
a neuro-marketing researcher at Copenhagen Business
School decided to investigate the role of the brand effect in
a behavioural study of customers’ preference towards four
coffee-chain brands in the Danish market.
Based on sensory, marketing and neuro-scientific
measurement methods, the study explores the effect of
brand equity and customer motivations that lead to choosing
one particular brand of coffee over another. Featuring a
well known international coffee brand and three national
high street coffee brands, the test was conducted with a
representative sample of 122 randomly chosen participants
aged between 20-40 years of age, equally distributed
between male and female who live in Denmark.
However, the four branded samples did not feature the
coffee from the original suppliers; they contained only two
different types of coffee - high and low quality - roasted by
Copenhagen-based roaster Kontra. The respondents were
presented in chronological order with two high quality
coffees and two low quality coffees which were then reversed
in order to optimise the gathering of statistical results. The
test was broken down into the following three steps:
1) Measuring brand pre-assumptions
and associations
These results represent a consumers’
‘liking’ estimations
2) Measuring the amount of coffee
consumed from the samples
These results represent a consumers’
‘wanting’ estimations
3) Final measurement of sample coffee
consumed and preference
These results represent the relation between
their ‘wanting’ vs ‘liking’ estimations
The study assumed that customers’ pre-assumptions will
be connected to their final brand of choice. It was also
supposed that they will prefer the taste (e.g. liking) and
consume more (e.g. wanting) of the high quality than the low
quality coffee provided.
HOW ARE CONSUMERS INFLUENCED
BY THE ‘BRAND EFFECT’?
The study shows that there is more to taste preference than
taste alone. Through sensory and statistical analysis, Bouzidi
was able to identify a clear correlation between the level
of brand equity and consumer preference. She found that
motivations, responses and taste experiences were greatly
influenced by their brand expectations and assumptions
which resulted in the respondents consuming more of the
brand that they preferred – irrespective of quality. This
indicates that there is a strong connection between liking
and pre-assumptions of a particular brand that guides our
own personal preferences and buying decisions.
From a scientific perspective, the study explored the two
mechanisms that simultaneously play a subconscious and
conscious role in our decision making processes. Recent
developments in neuroscience have found that motivation can
be a conscious response (e.g. liking) while unconscious reflexes
(e.g. wanting) have distinctly different neuro-pathways.
Notably, the ‘wanting’ system is thought to have a strong
and direct impact actual on decision making by activating
the mesolimbic dopamine pathway in the striatum area
of the brain. Conversely, the subjective ‘liking’ system
that stimulates the release of opiods in the orbitofrontal
cortex area of the brain is related to taste experience; a
motivational force that influences our choice behaviours.
Although these two different brain circuits are affected by
emotions, Imane indicates that neuro-imaging techniques
show how both appear to be driving forces in consumer
choice (see figure 4).
Figure 1: The coffee tasting test
A B C D
30g
1. 2.
Each coffee sample is The international and three
measured into equal national brand samples are
quantities arranged on the table
In highlighting the role of the brand as a value-based asset
that can motivate consumers to make a purchasing decision
by triggering certain emotions and feelings, Bouzidi makes an
interesting observation. She argues that as brands become
more persuasive in their visibility and diversity, consumers
are increasingly using brands to construct their own self-
identity. As a result, buying behaviour has shifted from being
part of an information-led economy to an experience-based
economy where the consumer searches for self promotion
and individuality. More than a logo or product, she suggests
that brands are intangible tools that have the power to
motivate consumers to make purchasing decisions which
stimulate emotional and pleasure receptors in the brain at
both the conscious and unconscious level.
“Overall, the findings explored how
coffee brands in general have an effect
on consumer taste experience. It was
discovered that the danish consumer
taste experiences and preferences are
extremely affected by their primary
brand expectations, assumptions and
relations. This study allows smaller
coffee shops to examine their consumer
likings and positive associations, so
that they can assess which values they
need to maintain or further develop in
order to compete with more dominant
international coffee brands”.
Imane Bouzidi
Neuro-marketing Lecturer, Market Research Specialist and
Business Strategist at Copenhagen Business School
A
10g
3. 4. 5.
Each respondent tastes one Each respondent evaluates When the respondent
cup at a time one cup at a time has finished tasting,
any leftovers are measured
RESULTS Figure 2: Tasting test - perception vs brand by quality

Overall, the findings demonstrated that the coffee associated 7

with the international brand had an extremely positive 6
effect. It was also the most consumed coffee in the test and

Mean scores: Perception

5
scored the highest for preferred taste. Compared with the 4
three other national brands, the participants consistently
3
demonstrated a strong bond with the coffee that has the
2
highest brand equity. They also associated this brand with
several positive statements; even when the sample being 1
tasted contained the lower quality of the two coffees 0
presented in the study (see figure 2 and 3). National National International National
Brand
In response to the findings, Bouzidi said: “The results of the High Low
study were incredibly revealing about the effect of brand
equity on consumer preference. In both the liking and
wanting measurements, the respondents liked the taste of Figure 3: Tasting test - consumption vs brand by quality
the international coffee brand better than the competitors in
both the low and high quality coffees – indicating that it didn’t 25
Mean scores: Consumption (gr)
matter which quality of coffee the samples contained. In 20
relation to wanting measurements, the participants consumed
most of the international brand regardless of quality. Another 15
observation was that the international brand was the coffee
that the majority of respondents chose ‘to go’”. 10

0
National National International National
Brand
High Low

Figure 4: Connecting value-based decision making with the theory of ‘wanting’ and ‘liking’ systems

Step 1: Brand pre-assumptions

How much do you predict to enjoy Brand A vs. B, etc?
Striatum
Dopamine is released
Unconscious ‘wanting’ is triggered and brand associations
(wanting system)
are developing.

Step 2: Experienced value

How much do you actually enjoy drinking Brand A while
you are consuming it?
Opioids are released
Conscious actions are influenced by unconscious gut feelings.

Step 3: Remembered value

How much did you remember to like Brand A and how do you encode
or retrieve this liking?

Opioids are released

Respondent’s brand ‘liking’ preference is expressed
in the final evaluation.

Learned value Orbitofrontal cortex

Associations with Brand A are updated by internal (liking system)
(e.g. taste experience) and external (e.g. advertising, social influence)
factors that will inform future assumptions.
CONCLUSION
ABOUT THE
Whilst it can be argued that consumers in specialty coffee may be more discerning
in their purchasing decisions, the findings contain a valuable message for coffee RESEARCH
shop owners and roasters as they seek to craft their brand within an increasingly
competitive marketplace. Bouzidi concludes: “We must keep in mind that most TEAM
customers are very quality and price-orientated. It is important for coffee brands
to build a strong reputation and deliver the right product at the right time but,
importantly, they need to be asking themselves ´what likeable experience did I
serve my customer today?`. Customers search for self-promotion and individuality -
a successful coffee brand’s job is to serve it”.

In an industry where taste experience, favourable surroundings and positive

associations all add to the enjoyment of specialty coffee, the study highlights how
high brand equity can help to boost customer loyalty. Moreover, the study shows
that brand awareness and perceived quality also reflect the cognitive mechanisms
that stimulate the conscious liking and unconscious wanting systems that influence
consumer preference.

The research was conducted at

“The effects of brand equity on customer the Copenhagen Business School
behaviour serve to remind us again of the great by Neuro-marketing Lecturer,
Market Research Specialist
task we have to continue to educate the consumer and Business Strategist, Imane
about the joys and benefits of specialty coffee”. Bouzidi (pictured above). She
has spent five years researching
David Veal
SCAE’s Executive Director consumer behavior, analysing
market research data, managing
B2B marketing projects, and has
consulted start-up companies
as well as assisting Nordic brand
developments. Imane believes
that nurturing brand equity is the
key to commercial success.

The research was supervised

by Thomas Ramsøy, former
Director of Center for Decision
Neuroscience at Copenhagen
Business School and CEO of
Neurons Inc. Morten Münchow,
external lecturer at Department
of Food Science, University of
Copenhagen and founder of
CoffeeMind, co-supervised the
project on behalf of the Speciality
Coffee Associaton of Europe
(SCAE).

WWW.SCAE.COM