Which do people prefer more: Pepsi or Cola? This question has caused much controversy throughout the years.
Pepsi was made as Coca Cola’s competitor in the 1960s. This means the feud between the two drink companies has gone on for 50 years, according to Opinion Outpost. According to industry statistics compiled by Beverage Digest, Coke owns 17 percent of the American market for carbonated soft drinks, the next most popular choice is Diet Coke with 9.4 percent. Pepsi languishes in third place at 8.9 percent, according to Pepsi paradox.
Even though Pepsi is sweeter, Coke is the winner. Why is this? What makes Cola more popular even though it is more acidic and Pepsi is sweeter? How is this possible?
“Coke has always had better sales; they started earlier, had better press, and had a long reputation as the leader of the Cola world. Until the 70s, Pepsi had the reputation of being a lower quality product, being cheaper overall, despite offering more. Nixon’s influence in bringing Pepsi to the White House was a huge boost”, according to author C. M. Latsha on Quora, an analysis website.
According to Pepsi paradox, by 1983, Pepsi was outselling Coke leaving Coke dependent on its larger infrastructure of soda machines and fast food tie-ins to keep its lead. Though it’s the flagship brand of a diverse beverage and snack company with over $65 billion in revenue, Pepsi is a loser in the popularity sweepstakes.
Taste tests consist of relatively modest sips. People normally go for the sweeter tasting drink, so they would pick Pepsi. But sweeter doesn’t always mean better. While we want something sweet, we don’t necessarily want a long-term relationship with something that’s too sweet, according to Pepsi paradox. This shows that people like sweet things, but not too sweet, which is the reason that Coke is still in the lead of the Pepsi vs Cola war.
Pepsi is the sweeter choice, but Coca Cola will win the battle of which is more preferred. Coke has been around longer than Pepsi, isn’t as sweet, and is a great drink. No wonder people prefer it more.