Minimal effect of evoked contexts in product testing with consumers: Case studies using typical consumption situations

Abstract

Consumer studies conducted under central location test (CLT) conditions continue to be dominant in product research and context evocation have been suggested as an avenue to partly mitigate the lack of real consumption settings. In this research the influence of evoked context on product acceptability was investigated in eight diverse consumer studies (138–268 participants per study) through the use of between-subjects designs that allowed the comparison of hedonic scores obtained with and without evoked context. In a departure from previous research, consumers mentally evoked their typical consumption contexts for the focal product categories and content analysis of descriptions of these situations showed them to often be idiosyncratic. Results were partly product- and situation-specific, and in this regard replicated past research. The evoked context only significantly modified hedonic scores in two of the eight studies, whereas it increased sample discrimination in three studies. Thus, accumulating evidence now supports the conclusion that evoked context is less rather than more likely to impact hedonic responses. Nonetheless, a benefit of context evocation is to give products a more complete meaning, and this may motivate their continued use in CLT settings. For researchers who wish to continue their use, key considerations in implementation are discussed, including relevance in home-use testing (HUT). By asking consumers to describe a typical eating occasion for the tested products, useful understanding of product use and pairings is gained. Such data can be easily elicited from consumers and obtained independently of context evocation.