Perception is the process where people’s stimuli are selected, organised and interpreted. People process data; where perception focuses on what people add to or take away from their sensations of data. Their perceptions are organised and then interpreted from which a meaning is assigned for the product. Prentice-Hall (2002) (Page 56)
The TEST:
A perceptual test was carried out using two different brands and leagues of water. At the lower end of the scale, Sainsbury’s basics water was used and at the higher end was Evian water.
The panel of testers included 4 girls and 4 boys who each had to try the basics water in a cup followed by the Evian water. After, they took a guess at which cup of water they thought was the Evian and which was the basics as well as which cup they preferred.
Before the test took place each testee was told about the two different kinds of water. Some of the testees were given two of the same type of water instead of one of each. This was to show how the subconscious mind can make people believe create opinions.
After the test was completed the results mainly shown that most people could not tell the difference between the two brands. Some of the testers even favoured one cup oppose to another when both were the same brand.
The RESULTS:
Almost all of the testers made a guess on which water they preferred. Results concluded to 5 out of 8 preferring the what they thought was Evian water and 3 out of 8 had chosen the basics water; they were biased to the cup that they thought was filled with the Evian water, even if their guess was wrong. Three out of four of the males had made a guess as they could not tell the difference between the two. Similarly, 2 out of 4 of the girls had done the same and guessed which cup of water they preferred.
When it came to the guessing which of the cups was which water, only 3 and a half (one of the testees had both Sainsbury’s basics water) people had guessed each cup properly. If the same testees had been tested between tap water and Evian water, the results would have varied as most would have known which water was the tap and which was the bottled. Bottled water altogether goes through a large cleaning process which makes it all taste the same.
The Goods and Bads of the Experiemnt:
*Table water tastes virtually the same everywhere. This made it hard before the test had started. The testees struggled with deciding which of the cups of water they thought was the basics and which they thought was the Evian.
*Some of the testees would have probably eaten some type of strong food before the experiment which would have changed their opinion on which cup they preferred. This could have made them think that the second cup of water tasted better as the first washed down and cleared their throats.
*Serving the water out of plastic cups made it a fair test as if they were served out of their original bottles, this would have made the test biased. When it came to their opinions on which cup of water they preferred; the testees were biased to the cup they thought was the Evian, upper class cup. Looking at the packages of the two bottles of water would have changed the testees’ views on which water they were going to prefer.
The Evian bottle is shaped with carvings of mountains on them and the colours on the brand tag include red, pink, white and shades of blue. Contrastingly, the Sainsbury’s basics water has standard bottle shape, with the brand tag simply in white and orange. From looking at the bottles on the side of the table; the testees were automatically biased to which water was considered the better class of water and which was the standard cheap water. On the tag of the Sainsbury’s Basics water, it says ‘Still Table Water no fancy packaging, clearly water’. This too, evidently shows how simple and standard the water is. this clearly shows how much of a difference packaging makes to their potential customers. It can image a product completely in the wrong way or exactly how they planned it. The moment the product is viewed, they are judged straight away without a concious so it is vital that businesses package and name their products in order to attract the correct market for them.
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