There is substantial evidence that consumers associate higher prices with higher quality for similar products, resulting in firms being able to charge higher prices for new products. As consumers become more informed about the products, the power of this signaling declines. Bagwell and Riordan developed a model of this some years ago

https://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/math/papers/808.pdf

From the abstract, it sounds as if the study participants were choosing from among beverages they did not have specific knowledge of, as the tests included some choices described as "decoys".