Are you a wine or a whiskey sommelier? Beware of the emotional costs of expertise!

Updated : April 03, 2021 02:01 PM IST

All of us crave to consume things and live the experiences that make us feel good. These are things and experiences, an indulgence with whom, promises to bring us emotional joys and positive feelings. Savouring a glass of wine, listening to music, watching films, clicking the camera to capture that perfect moment, blissfully devouring an ice-cream or buying that latest fashion jewellery – all these and many more behaviours elicit our positive emotions and thereby make us feel good.

Given such consumption’s positive trade-offs, it is natural that many consumers are motivated to take their consumption experience to the next level. These consumers want to learn more about the subtleties and nuances of the products that fill them with positive emotions. For instance, a movie buff wishing to become a more discriminating cinephile, may enrol in a course to acquire expert knowledge on different aspects of film making. For such aspirational expert-film-consumers, short courses are offered – now purely online ones too - by film institutes, such as Film and Television Institute of India (FTII). Similarly, those who enjoy music, photography or wine, often aspire to develop certain level of expertise in their much-loved product, skill or hobby. It is not unusual nor uncommon to find consumers pursuing knowledge and expertise on things that bring them an emotional high or joy. Indeed, they do so in the firm belief that greater expertise would result in further enriching their consumption-derived positive feelings and experiences.

Acquiring expertise is a rewarding endeavour. With expertise come benefits such as more efficient information processing, better memory of relevant information and even better decision making.

Acquisition of extensive knowledge within a product domain or a field (e.g., wine, coffee, music, photography) enables consumers to apply an analytical approach to understand product domains and fields and make more rational evaluations. For instance, an expert in photography shall assess a set of photographs based elements such as composition, light and angles. Much the same way, a whiskey sommelier, would discriminate between whiskies by dissecting them on aspects of complexity, balance, smoothness, finish and so on. There are other candies too for being an expert. One may feel proud of one’s expertise – such as the film buff with a well-earned FTII certificate. Mastery in a product domain may also render an enhanced social prestige – remember how we are in awe of people amidst us who seem to know all about music. Moreover, experts such as gourmet reviewers on the Instagrams and Pinterests of the world, get a chance to cherish their popularity as well as the free food tasting invites they receive from exciting food joints and bistros.

We may wonder whether there is more to the glorious and grand story of being an expert-consumer. Specifically, is there a possible twist in this tale? It seems, there is.

The above question was studied by consumer researchers Matthew D. Rocklage, Derek D. Rucker and Loran F. Nordgren from University of Massachusetts, Boston and Northwestern University. Their research, published recently in the Journal of Consumer Research, shows that having expertise in certain product domains and fields can make such expert-consumers emotionally numb.

That is, such expert-consumers display and experience less intense emotions when they consume certain products which are consumed primarily to provide hedonic thrills based in positive feelings and emotions. The products such as wine, fine gourmet, movies, photography, beer and music fall in this category.

When experts engage with a product or consume it, they tend to evaluate and assess the product and their consumption experience by employing their expert knowledge on the product. Using an analytical approach, they dissect the product into its constituent parts to make conclusions about the product.

However, when this default analytical approach is adopted for hedonic products and fields, of the kind mentioned above, it leads the expert-consumers away from experiencing the spontaneous feelings and pure emotions, that say a non-expert consumer or a novice would derive from consuming such products. Let us try to visualise these findings.

Imagine, you drop into a winery to enjoy a Chardonnay. Remember, your goal is to enjoy a glass of Chardonnay, perhaps after a hectic day. If you are a sommelier or a wine-consumer with some degree of wine expertise, chances are you will focus on deconstructing and analysing the wine on its aroma, appearance, acidity and so on. Doing this, is likely to undermine or numb your feelings and emotional experience towards the wine and its consumption. In contrast, if you are a lucky novice, you would simply savour the wine with spontaneity and experience more intense emotions and feelings from its consumption. One can visualise similar experiences in consumption domains of music, photography, movies and so on.

Does this imply that in case of such products and fields, expert-consumers are doomed to experience emotional numbness? The answer, thankfully, is in the negative.

So, does it mean that our sommelier too can enjoy a glass of wine, to experience wholesome positive feelings and emotions? The answer, thankfully, is in the affirmative.

The research mentioned above suggests that experts can escape the emotional numbness trap, when they need to, by leaning themselves away from a knowledge-driven analytical approach to assess their consumption experiences. Instead such expert-consumers can deliberately shift their focus towards the feelings and emotions emanating from their consumption experience.

So, whether you are a celebrity chef or a discerning food reviewer, the next time, you head out with your friends to enjoy a meal at a popular Dhaba, follow a simple trick. Make sure that the analytical expert within you is fast asleep, and allow your feelings and emotions be fully spiced up.

Published : April 03, 2021 02:01 PM IST

Are you a wine or a whiskey sommelier? Beware of the emotional costs of expertise!

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