Investigating Consumption-Related Emotions Elicited by Selected Dairy Products Using Product Emotion Measurement

Valery Y Yao

doi:10.5539/ijms.v8n1p86

Abstract

<p>This article investigates the mediating role of specific emotions attached to the consumption of milk, yoghurt, cheese, and maas (Note 1) in Gauteng Province, South Africa. To this end, 81 South African dairy consumers’ consumption experiences were assessed through the use of the Product Emotion measurement (PrEmo). Computer-aided web interviews (CAWI) were used to collect the data. The findings indicate that ultimately, dairy consumption is emotionally-driven. The findings also clearly offer strong support that the notion of consumer emotion is a much better indicator for assessing and improving consumer experience. The uncovered strong emotions elicited by the selected generic dairy products should be considered by dairy marketers as critical building blocks in creating dairy marketing messages. Measuring consumers’ consumption experience as integral part of a marketing programme is the first study of its kind in the South African dairy industry.</p>

Highlights

Most approaches to decision-making usually have a high regard on rational cognitive variables in explaining human performance
The purpose of this article is to report on the findings of a larger study that set out to ascertain the specific emotionality attached to milk, yoghurt, cheese and maas consumption in Gauteng Province, South Africa
A non-probability sample of 81 South African dairy consumers from different background across the Gauteng Province participated in the study

Summary

Introduction

Most approaches to decision-making usually have a high regard on rational cognitive variables in explaining human performance. Economic theories contend that individual consumption decisions are governed by variables such as disposable income and interest rate. The utilitarian perspective of decision-making has dominated consumer behaviour literature, with consumers being, for decades, assumed to exhibit a rational approach to decisions, with scant regard to the nature of products. Building on unanswered issues left by rationally-led theories, a revolution in emotion research has emerged in the last few decades, engendering a paradigm shift in thinking about decision theories (Lerner, Li, Valdesolo, & Kassam, 2014). Empirical studies provide evidence of the emotional component of consumption decisions. There is a need to provide a context-specific case to ascertain the emotionality of consumers in consuming dairy products

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