But why has Coke done this? And is it an effective tactic for getting the new cans flying off the shelves? Here’s some interesting science:
1. Processing fluency
Processing Fluency is a cognitive bias in which our opinion of something is influenced by how easily our brain processes it and understands it.
We tend to prefer things that are simple to mentally understand and process, and will even find simple information more believable. An intuitive design, or a coherent piece of advertising copy, represents high processing fluency.
In summary, our brains misattribute ease of mental processing with liking that item more. The easier it is to think about, the more we like it.
2. Legibility
Text is most legible when foreground and background colours differ in brightness. As brightness contrast diminishes, so does legibility.
Hue also affects colour differentiation. Complementary colours produce more contrast than colours that are adjacent on the colour wheel.
Black text on a red background has been shown to be significantly harder to read than white text on a red background - why do you think many more ‘sale’ signs are red and white compared to red and black?
Ultimately, it’s harder to read the new Coke can compared with the old one.
Summary
According to psychology, the new Coke Zero can is both harder to read and therefore, harder to mentally process, so liked less by our brains.
