The Science of Marketing

This morning I actually decided to eat something before I left the house. There was one bagel left in the pantry, so I popped it in the toaster and opened the refrigerator to get some butter. There, staring me in the face, were two containers of "butter" – I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! and Smart Balance. I was pretty sure that both were healthy alternatives to butter (or they wouldn’t be there) but obviously I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter! must taste like butter and Smart Balance must taste like what? Soybeans?

The name, or rather my expectation of the name, made the choice for me. I chose I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!

As it turns out, I was right about the health thing. According to this article, a serving of SB has 9 grams of fat and 80 calories and ICBINB! has 10 grams of fat and 90 calories. (The article also states that ICBINB! is cheaper.) And later I found that they taste about the same. But, as goofy as it sounds, the name "I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!" made the difference.

Brand names go a long way in setting buyers’ expectations of any product or service.

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