According to Wikipedia, a social experiment is a psychological or sociological research method that observes people’s reactions to certain situations or events. The experiment depends on a particular social approach where the main source of information is the point of view and knowledge of the participants. In this post we are going to see something along these lines, with a curious social experiment by Alvalle.
The well-known food brand asks whether a tomato has the same image for boys and girls in the city as it does in the countryside. Under this premise, Alvalle has set out to find answers through an educational experiment. Under the name “The vegetable garden project”, this experiment is part of its recent campaign “With respect it tastes better”.
With the clear intention of showing the variety and freshness of the tomatoes and vegetables used in its products, Alvalle has consulted a total of 100 children. Of these, 50 belong to urban environments, while another 50 belong to rural environments. Specifically, they have been asked to draw what they consider to be a tomato. From there, the challenge for the brand has been to show whether there are differences.
Alvalle’s social experiment highlights some differences in perception
In a statement, the food brand highlights that children from urban environments drew round and red tomatoes. On the other hand, children from rural environments drew tomatoes of different varieties, colors and shapes.
Alvalle points out that this finding is in line with its campaign, in which it shows “the richness of the vegetable garden and the wide variety of tomatoes that exist and that they use to make their products”. In this campaign, the lack of knowledge about the production processes, as well as the way Alvalle works, is also raised.
Perhaps no social experiment was needed to see the differences in children’s perceptions. The reasons are more than obvious, since some see them in the supermarket and others are likely to see them in the field. But I find it interesting that this has been done, because it opens a door for other brands to explore these avenues.
Imagine the amount of good insights that can be extracted from campaigns of this type in this and other areas. For example, by asking certain audiences how they interpret a brand in the form of a drawing, illustration, collage or other formats. Surely in this way, you can detect nuances that would otherwise be unlikely to be obtained.
Photo & video credit: AV
