Let’s talk over coffee: Exploring the effect of coffee flavour descriptions on consumer imagery and behaviour

Abstract

Online, as offline, purchase decisions are based on expectations about flavour and taste, offering an opportunity to make healthy and sustainable options desirable by using the right descriptions. This study investigates the effect of different types of coffee flavour descriptions on consumers, showing language can influence consumer purchase behaviour. In two experiments, participants were asked to rate vividness of imagery, desire to taste, and willingness to pay for several coffee flavour descriptions online. In the first experiment, descriptions differed on the type of words used: abstract words (“sweet”), evaluative words (“nice”), source-based words (“berries”), or a combination of these. Word type had an effect on all three variables, with source-based terms leading to the most vivid imagery, highest desire to taste, and highest willingness to pay. In the second experiment, descriptions presented flavour words in different description contexts (a stative, sensory, or figurative description), or a simple summation of those 6 words. The results showed no difference between the different types of descriptions, but words in sentences led to higher imagery vividness, higher desire to taste, and higher willingness to pay. Together, this suggests consumers seem to be able to imagine flavour from a verbal description quite clearly, but it depends on the type of words used and the form in which these words are presented. The desire to taste and willingness to pay for a product relate to the degree of imageability. The results are not only useful for optimising (coffee) flavour descriptions, but also for shaping consumer choices.