Coffee, Cup, and Context: Schema Incongruity Effects on Liking for Coffee
Products are liked less when they are experienced as schema incongruent but in case of moderate schema incongruity, products are liked better. Extrinsic cues such as packaging or labels influence the degree of experienced incongruity. In the present study, we tested whether it is possible to influence the degree of schema incongruity with regard to filtered coffee by manipulating the cup in which the coffee is served and the environmental context in which it is presented. In a split-plot design, experienced coffee consumers (N = 45) were tested in small groups (n = 2-4). They tasted and evaluated two cups of coffee, one served in a double walled glass and the other served in a porcelain cup. One part of the sample was assigned to taste coffee in a sensory laboratory (n = 23), and the remaining part (n = 22) was tested in a dining room setting. We hypothesized that coffee is better liked when served in an incongruent cup (i.e., double walled glass) in a context that is congruent with drinking coffee (i.e., a dining room), or when served in a congruent cup (i.e., a porcelain cup) but presented in an incongruent context (i.e., a sensory laboratory). We found no evidence for this hypothesized cup x context interaction but did find that the incongruent context alone promoted liking for the taste of coffee and increased the amount consumers were willing to pay for it.