[Melody303]

One of these two might be the study you wanted, or more accurately, the well written article referencing various relevant studies.
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2011/06/10/the-backfire-effect/
http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/23/confirmation-bias/

 

[LAmitchell]

What a cool topic to read about.
I love this study-of-human-nature stuff, so here's my 2 cents.....
 
 
For me, The LOOK of the headphone is EQUALY important to the sound. If someone showed me a BETTER SOUNDING headphones that didn't LOOK as good as the one I'm holding, I'm going to want to hear the better looking one.
 
 
One other thing....
 
Let these beats/skullcandy people enjoy their new headphones.  If they geat curious later on, they the can invest in better cans... and they will be better able to appreciate the Sennheisers, AKG, LCD, etc...

 

[proton007]

From what I've read, people want to take a decision on the basis of what they know.
 
Giving them more information only enhances their realization of the gap in their knowledge, it makes them disappointed. They'll go on the defensive immediately (as witnessed).
 
Very few want to learn more in order to take a better decision. 
 
So, from a sales perspective it helps to come up with pseudo-technical terms, stuff like fusion drive (vs hierarchical storage systems) , retina display (vs high dpi or ppi) , readyboost (vs external cache), ultrabook etc. 
You'll see a clear pattern of electronics companies with more of these terms having better sales.

 

[aqsw]

Same thing happened to me at Futureshop. I was asked by a father with his son in tow "which ones would I buy", They had shure dj750s on for $80.00. I told him to definately buy the Shures as they were bass heavy like the other ones the son wanted, built better, and definately sounded better. The son took a mild fit and the father thanked me and bought the other ones.

 

[proton007]

Quote:

Same thing happened to me at Futureshop. I was asked by a father with his son in tow "which ones would I buy", They had shure dj750s on for $80.00. I told him to definately buy the Shures as they were bass heavy like the other ones the son wanted, built better, and definately sounded better. The son took a mild fit and the father thanked me and bought the other ones.

Hey, if everyone went around listening to audiophiles, half the companies would be out of business. Then I also think there would be more companies with better products.

 

[Happy Camper]

Most have a pre conception and are looking for re-enforcement. When you confuse the topic with something that doesn't back their ideas, they will tune you out. I think that's human nature. For the rare time that one is actually trying to learn, they don't want to be told what's best, they want to know the whys and hows so they can determine what best fits their ideas to their budget. I've been guilty of looking at price ranges to determine quality in hi fi gear based on coming up the chain of gear in my life. If we could have access to a good store with well chosen gear from all price points, I think the pricing would still hold more weight in the end but one could experience the exceptions to make a case for value.