It Makes Me Feel So Good: An Experimental Study of the Placebo Effect Generated by Brands

ABSTRACT

The placebo effect is the observed result in an individual or group of individuals, after a treatment in which a placebo was used. The results, from two experiments, indicate that in a state of placebo effect, with high motivation and high expectations, the responses (subjective and objective) were improved when a recognized brand was evaluated. We also identified that high expectation levels eliminated the impact of motivation in the relationship between brand and subjective and objective responses and, in that context, any brand would positively influence the dependent variables.

KEYWORDS:

• Brands
• expectation
• motivation
• placebo effect