Why plonk with a posh label tastes like a fine vintage French wine, and cheap chocolates are better when pretending they're Belgian(2)
Fool yourself: Chocolate lovers should pretend every bar they eat is of the delicious Belgian variety
The study was carried out by marketing researcher Keith Wilcox and colleagues at Babson College in Wellesley, Massachusetts.
He quizzed 526 students to find out more about their ‘actual perception of taste’ in relation to chocolate.
The vast majority preferred the Swiss chocolate versus Chinese chocolate if they were told it came from there first - even though both test samples were an ordinary supermarket brand.
'What the connoisseur might consider to be a high-end wine that should cost a lot of money isn't necessarily going to translate to the average consumer's taste.’
Previous studies have shown that we are influence by price too and that if something costs more we tend to think that it tastes better.
Stuart Edwards, owner of the City Beverage Company in London, which also sells luxury chocolate, said he believed the research as he regularly sees customers choose a wine just because it has a fancy label.
‘I think for people who have been buying their wine in a supermarket there is quite a strong case to be made that they will not able to tell the difference,’ he said.
‘If you are embarrassed by this then going on a wine tasting or chocolate tasting course is a good idea.
‘A person’s pallete is like a brain and it can be educated.
'Once people become practiced we find that they become interested in what they are drinking and go off on their own.'
He added: ‘I just want to make clear that I’m not the wine police - ultimately the point is to eat and drink things you enjoy if you are comfortable with what you like, stick with it.’
