This excerpt is from Harry Beckwith's "Selling the Invisible" (pp. 189-190), a book on marketing. As a wine lover, I've noticed the same effect that Mr. Beckwith describes here, can be applied to the appreciation of wine.
"Our Eyes Have It: The Lessons of Chicago's Restaurants.
Richard Melman is the wizard behind Scoozi's, Ed Debevic's, and several of Chicago's other most popular restaurants.
Many connoisseurs take Melman's success as another sign that image is everything, that in restaurants, looking good is better than cooking good.
The critics miss the point. They assume that restaurants are in the food business. Not so; restaurants are in the entertainment business. People go to restaurants for the experience. They even go to famous restaurants with great cuisine -like the Mansion at Turtle Creek or 510 Groveland- so see what all the fuss is about, to experience what others have, to see who might be there, and to dress up.
Melmann's success, then, illustrates the wisdom of knowing what business you really are in, and selling what people are buying.
Bue Melman's critics also ignore another factor in Melman's success that is important to any marketer. Few people have discriminating tastes like the late James Beard, who could discern the entire recipe for a complex sauce from one sip. Instead, our perceptions of the quality of almost everything -from professional advice to veal scallopini- are often unsophisticated. Because of this, our perceptions are very vulnerable to influence. When we try the roast duck at the Mansion at Turtle Creek, for example, it tastes good in part because of the glowing reviews, the gorgeous atmosphere, and the stratospheric prices. Can most of us really taste the difference in the Mansion's roast duck? Not at all."
