The Pepsi Challenge: Can Sixth Graders Perceive the Difference in Brands of Pop?

Researched by Taylor S.
2004-05


PURPOSE

The first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether sixth graders could accurately identify different colas (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Fred Meyer Select, and Western Family) by taste.

The second purpose was to determine which pop was most frequently reported as tasting best in a blind-tasting experiment.

I became interested in this idea when I first saw two commercials - one for Pepsi and one for Coca-Cola – which both claimed their product had the best taste.  I wondered which one really did taste better. Then I wondered whether people could actually tell any difference at all. I decided to conduct “The Pepsi Challenge”, which is to see if people really can tell Pepsi and Coca-Cola apart.

Consumers, when deciding which cola to buy, might use the information gained from this experiment to make wise purchase decisions. 
 

HYPOTHESIS

My first hypothesis was that people wouldn’t be able to accurately identify the colas.  

My second hypothesis was that subjects would report that Pepsi tasted better than any other brand.

I based my first hypothesis on the fact that the colas are so much alike in taste, that people most likely cannot tell them apart. 

I base my second hypothesis on the fact that Pepsi has been reported as one of the top selling colas around world.


 EXPERIMENT DESIGN

The constants in this study were:
  • The colas: types tasted, amount tasted, serving temperature, time since opening
  • The paper cups used for tasting (coded but unnamed)
  • The amount of time given to each student to taste and respond
The manipulated variable was the type (brand) of cola tasted.

The 1st responding variable was the number of accurate taste identifications.

The 2nd responding variable was the number of preference votes for each cola.

To measure the responding variable I tabulated the written responses given by each subject, then counted the number or correct responses.  


MATERIALS
    
QUANTITY ITEM DESCRIPTION
1 2-liter bottles of Pepsi
1 2-liter bottles of Coca-Cola
1
2-liter bottles of Fred Meyer Select
1 2-liter bottles of Western Family “Cola”
150 Paper cups for testing
150 Colored adhesive paper dots to identify cups
40 Response Sheets, one for each individual
1
Experimenter’s script
1 Serving Chart



 PROCEDURES

1. Collect permissions slips before experiment is conducted (subjects may not participate without the slips.)
2. Buy 2 liters of each cola at the local grocery store (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Western Family “Cola”, and Fred Meyer Select) also buy 200 small drinking cups to pour water and colas into.
3. Move 6 desks in testing classroom so that none of the subjects can communicate or see each other’s paper.
4. Wash desktops.
5. Pourer and server must wash hands before serving liquids or touching cups.
6. Label cups:
a. Divide cups into 4 groups if 24.
b. Label all cups in one group using adhesive dots of one color: red, green, orange, or purple.  Use a different color for four different groups. Do not label the water cups, which are the fifth group. 
7. Pourer (experimenter) must not allow the server to know which cola is in which colored cup, until all testing is finished! 
8. Pourer uses the “Random Serving Table” (see appendix) and fills cups for a specific test group.
a. The pourer puts 50 ml. of the cola currently to be served into 6
b.  Of the small sample cups labeled with the correct dot color.
c. Repeat with the other three cola brands in the cups labeled with the other three colors. 
d. Also pour 1 cup with water to rinse their mouth between tastes.
9. Bring a group of 6 students into testing room and seat them
10. Read subjects the instructions and answer any questions.  Tell them they may quit at any time.
11. Give each subject a response sheet and a pencil.
12. Server (only) gives subjects the water and the cola one at a time in all four dot-labeled cups. 
13. Tell them to taste the first color and mark the cola that they think that it is.  Repeat this with the other three colas.  Tell them to rinse mouth between tastes with small amount of water.  After all colas are tasted then they choose their favorite at the bottom.
14. Subjects on the response sheet try to identify the brand in each cup.  They also write which color they liked best.
15. Thank the subjects and send them back to class
16. Collect response sheets and discard used cups.
17. Wash desktops. Wash hands.
18. Repeat steps 8-17 for the rest of the groups to test
19. Experimenter uses “Random Serving Table” to tally responses.
20. Average score for each type of cola.



Results

The first purpose of this experiment was to determine whether sixth graders could accurately identify different colas (Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Fred Meyer Select, and Western Family’s) by taste.

The results of the experiment were that on average sixth graders did a poor job of identifying the colas.  They were only accurate 27% of the time (26 correct of 96 possible responses.)  In fact only one person correctly identified all four colas.  Eight people identified none correctly and eight identified only one.  Seven people correctly identified two colas.

The cola taste that received most preference votes was Safeway Select with 9 votes, followed by Western Family with 6 votes, Pepsi with 6 votes, and Coke with only 4 votes.

See my table and graphs

Conclution

My first hypothesis was that people wouldn’t be able to accurately identify the colas.

The results indicate that my first hypothesis should be accepted because 73% of the time they were NOT accurate in identifying the colas.  

My second hypothesis was that my subjects would report that Pepsi tasted better than any other brand.

The results indicate that my second hypothesis should be rejected because Pepsi was not reported as the most liked cola.  In fact it was the third out of four.

Because of the results of this experiment, I wonder if diet colas would perform similarly in taste testing.  Not all people, including 6th graders, drink the sugared version of pop.

If I were to conduct this project again I would have the subjects sample more types of colas. I would also give them more time to drink each cola and I would test around 10 times as many people. 
 

RESEARCH REPORT

Pepsi and Coke are world known makers of non-alcoholic soft drinks.  Pepsi and Coke have always been competing for the “Worlds favorite Cola” position.  One day Pepsi is the favorite and the next thing that you know, Coke is in the lead, it never is the same.     
 
Coca-Cola- Coca-Cola has been around for many, many years and is a very successful soft drink industry.  Originally Coke, was an un-carbonated headache cure.  Customers liked the taste and convinced John Pemberton  (the original maker of Coke) to continue the product and he did as they said.  In Pemberton’s time, Coca-Cola was sold for five cents per glass. Coke became popular all around the world and in 1919 the company was sold for twenty-five million dollars ($25,000,000.00) and has became even more popular since it was sold.  Coca-Cola has been around so long the if you stacked every single eight ounce bottle of Coke ever sold, then you would have a stack that was more than sixty times larger than Mount Everest!

    Coca-Cola also makes other flavors of Coke and other varieties such as Cola-Cola, itself (1886), Fanta Flavors (1960), Sprite (1961), Tab (1963), Fresca (1966), Mr. Pib (1972), Mello Yello (1979), Diet Coke (1982), Caffeine Free Products (1983), Cherry Coke and New Coke (1985), Mountain Dew (1987), Powerade (1990), Fruitopia (1994), Surge (1997).

Summary- Obviously Coca-Cola is one the world most popular soft drink and Coke doesn’t intend to loose that spot.


Pepsi- Pepsi has been around for almost as long as Coca-cola has, but not quite, yet it is just as popular worldwide.  Pepsi is a dark colored, non-alcoholic soft drink.  Regular Pepsi is mainly sugar, and that is what makes kids like it so much.  Diet Pepsi has less sugar and calories.  Pepsi also makes other soft drinks and a few other sweet flavors of Pepsi like: Mountain Dew, AMP, Mug and Diet Mug, Slice, Sierra Mist and Sierra Mist Free, Mirinda Orange, Tropicana, Aquafina, Lipton Iced Tea, Frappucchino, Star Bucks Double Shot, Lipton Brisk, Regular and Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Twist, Diet Pepsi Twist, Pepsi Vanilla, Diet Vanilla Pepsi, Wild Cherry Pepsi, Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi, Pepsi EDGE, and Pepsi One.  Obviously Pepsi makes quite a few different types of soda.  That is the main reason that Pepsi has one of the top highest amounts of income.

Summary- As you can plainly see, Pepsi is a huge soda pop industry and Pepsi is planning on keeping it that way.   

Taste- The sense of taste starts at a muscular organ that we know as our tongue.  The tongue is a muscle that is connected to the mouth by skin.  The surface of the tongue has over ten thousand (10,000) taste bud which each contains around a dozen taste cells.  Each tiny taste cell is four-thousandth of an inch long and half of that wide.  The visible bumps on you tongue are called “Papillae.”  This is what gives the tongue its spongy look.  In your mouth, the taste buds are divided into sections with specific names like: Filiform (pointed style), Foliate (Leaf shape styled), Fungiform (mushroom shape style), and Circumvallate (ring shape style).  The Foliate, Fungiform, and Circumvllate each hold from one to two hundred taste buds each.  But oddly enough the Filiform Papillae has no taste buds at all.  The taste buds on your tongue are able to sense mainly taste around four different types of tastes: sour, bitter, salty, and sweet.  The taste buts can mainly sense sweet tastes at the tip of the tongue and on the sides they mainly sense sourness.  On the back of the tongue the taste buds can easily detect bitter tastes and saltiness in the front.  We use the sense of taste everyday and it is one of the most important senses of the human body.            


Summary- As you can clearly see, the sense of taste is extremely important to the human body and your everyday life.


BIBLIOGRAPHY

Chambee, S.Theresa. “Soft Drink” World Book Encyclopedia, 2002, volume #18

Kittredge, Mary.  “Senses,” New York, Chelsea House Publisher, 1978, pg.64-74.

Maupin, Melissa. Coca-Cola. Mankato, Minnesota, Smart Apple Media, 2000, pg.4-29.

“The Pepsi Legacy” Pepsi World, December 15, 2004 http://www.pepsi.com/pepsi_café/legacy/2003/2004.php

“What’s in Pepsi?” Pepsi World, December 8, 2004 http://www.pepsi.com/pepsi_brands/product_info/index.php


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I would like to thank the following people for helping make my project possible:
  • My parents for encouraging me.
  •  Mr. Newkirk for keeping me on track
  •  Mrs. Helms for keeping me from talking
  •  All of my subjects that took my test.
  •  Whitney B. for being the server during my test.

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