Here Are the Results of What the Taste Testers Thought Were the Different Types of Colas

Recently, the marketing class at Judson College, conducted a survey of which brand of cola one would prefer after studying the chapter about decision support systems and marketing research. The first cola test evolved in the late 1970's while Pepsi was looking for a creative promotion in it's big problem area: the southwestern United States. Pepsi decided to implement a blind taste test using two different colas, Coke and Pepsi. In this taste test, more than half of the loyal Coke drinkers chose Pepsi over Coke. The promotion was such a huge success, that Pepsi later introduced this taste test into seven other markets throughout the United States. This test later became known as the unforgettable "Pepsi Challenge".
The marketing class replicated this taste test with three different colas which were RC, Pepsi, and Coca-Cola Classic. The brands of colas were labeled R, S, T.
When asked indiviually to compare the tastes of R and S, fifty-five percent of the taste testers preferred R over S. Forty-four percent preferred the taste of S.
The taste testers also compared the tastes of S and T. Thirty-three percent preferred the tastes of S and sixty-six percent preferred the tastes of T.
The last comparisons the taste testers made were between T and R. Fifty-five percent preferred T. Thirty-three percent preferred R. Eleven percent preferred neither of the colas.
The taste testers were asked for the total consumption of the three colas during past month. RC Cola was consumed three point three percent. Pepsi was consumed fifty-nine percent and Coke was thirty-seven percent.
The taste testers were also asked how many twelve-ounce cans or bottles of sugared cola they had consumed in the past thirty days. Twenty percent answered they had consumed six or fewer. Thirty percent of the taste testers said they had consumed seven to twelve. Eleven percent had thirteen to twenty-four, and thirty percent of the taste testers had twenty-five plus.

· Here are the results of what the taste testers thought were the different types of colas:

RC Cola
33.3% thought R was RC
55.5% thought S was RC
11.1% thought T was RC
RC Cola was S
Pepsi Cola
33.3% thought R was Pepsi
22.2% thought S was Pepsi
44.4% thought T was Pepsi
Pepsi was R
Coke
33.3% thought R was Coke
22.2% thought S was Coke
44.4% thought T was Coke
Coke was T
Authors: Cathy Allen and Lisa Tucker