Some Waters Taste Better Than Others – Or Do They

Abstract

The object of my experiment was to measure whether prior ideas about what a particular sample of water would taste like would affect the way people perceived the water they were drinking. I measured this by polling two different groups--one of whom knew what they were drinking and the other who did not—and asking them which water they preferred. I hypothesized that people who knew they were drinking Fiji water (a water with more luxurious brand associations) would prefer this to either Poland Spring (a more commonly sold brand of bottled water that does not have such luxurious associations) or tap water, and that people who knew they were drinking tap water would dislike this more than either Fiji or Poland Spring. My conclusions about Fiji proved largely correct, while those about tap water did not. 

Motivation and Hypothesis

Coming from India where bottled water isn’t particularly popular, except amongst foreigners and at five-star hotels, I’ve always noticed how dependent people in the US seem to be on bottled water, despite the fact that they have ready access to perfectly palatable, free tap water. 

People say they are willing to pay money for bottled water, primarily because it “tastes better” than tap water. Additionally, people claim to prefer certain brands of bottled water over others, again because they say there are taste differences.

For my experiment I decided to test whether people can actually taste the difference between bottled and tap water, and also between brands of bottled water. I chose to compare and contrast how people rated Fiji water, Poland Spring, and tap water when they knew what they were drinking versus when they did not. 

Fiji is an artesian water which--because it is collected from a confined, underground aquifer--does not come into contact with air or pollutants. It sells for about $2 in select grocery stores, and comes all the way from Fiji. 

Poland Spring is a cheaper brand of bottled spring water that comes from Maine, and sells for about $1. Poland Spring is commonly sold on the street in New York City by hot dog and kebab vendors, and hence I hypothesized that, given prior associations with the brand Fiji (more expensive, advertised as being more “pure”, and allegedly better tasting), people who knew what they were drinking would prefer Fiji over Poland Spring. Additionally, this same group would claim to prefer both brands of bottled water over tap water.

Experiment 

I polled 18 people in two groups. I gave cups of Fiji water, Poland Spring and tap water to the first group of nine participants. These participants knew whether they were drinking bottled or tap water, and if bottled, which brand they were drinking. I also handed them information about the two brands of bottled water they were drinking (detailing where the water comes from, how it is collected, and how much it sells for.)

Twanna, Haewon, Erika and Kevin: A few of the
enthusiastic participants from Group 1

The next day, I gave three cups of water to each of the nine participants in the second group.  However, this time, I did not tell the participants whether they were drinking bottled or tap water.

Results

Amongst participants comprising group one—the group that knew what it was drinking--Fiji water was the clear winner: seven people rated it as the water they liked the most, two people rated it as their second favorite, and nobody rated it as their least favorite. 

Nobody liked Poland Spring the most, five people rated it number two, while four people said they liked it the least.

The majority of participants—five--liked tap water the least. Two people liked it the most and two people rated it as their second favorite.

Amongst participants from group two, the results were markedly different. When they did not know what they were drinking, only 30 percent or three of the nine participants polled said that Fiji water was their favorite. In fact opinions on Fiji were evenly divided: 30 percent also rated it number two, and 30 percent as number three or their least favorite.

Poland Spring fared better than it did with group one. Nobody pegged it as their least favorite, and in fact four participants reported it as their favorite of the three choices.

Finally, the results for tap water were the most similar between the two groups: six people liked tap water the least, two liked it the most, and one person rated it as their second favorite.

Analysis and Conclusion 

My expectations about there being a marked differences in how people perceive the taste of tap water, depending on whether they are able to identify it, were not fulfilled by this experiment.

However the results pertaining to the two brands of bottled water in question show that prior associations with a brand have much to do with people’s perceptions about taste. When someone knows they are drinking a more luxurious brand of water, in this case Fiji, they are far more likely to believe it tastes better, and be willing to pay a premium for it, than if they know they are drinking a less luxurious brand like Poland Spring.