Why Hot Cider Is Better Than Iced Tea

“…very subtle cues from our environment can significantly influence behavior and feelings,” that’s according to Yale Professor Dr. Lawrence Williams, who ran a series of studies that were reported in the Associated Press this week.

The first example: Study participants were divided into two groups, given a drink and a description of a fictitious individual, and asked to describe that person. The results? The group that was holding a cup of warm water were more likely to rate the fictitious individual as “generous, sociable and good-natured,” than the group holding a cup of cold water.

In a related exercise, participants in a study were asked to hold a warm item or cold item, and then given an opportunity to select a gift for either themselves or a friend. Those holding a warm item were more likely to select a gift for a friend than those holding a cold item.

There’s no logical or rational reason why people would behave this way. But people aren’t logical or rational. So at one level, the message of these wacky findings is very clear: Serve hot cider rather than iced tea at your next fundraising gala!

But the real message of this study is most important at a different level: People elect and decline to do things for all kinds of reasons that are subconscious, hard-wired in our brains, completely irrational – but still within your control.

Think about that the next time you want somebody to turn off the lights, put a rain barrel on their house, donate to your organization, pick up after their dog, call their local county council representative, respect the slot limit for the fish they catch, or do any other thing that might aid your nature protection and pollution control efforts.

Open your mind to the prospect that the reason you want them to do it — and the reason they might actually do it — could be totally different.

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