The missing link in consumer liking: How category labels prime expectations and influence product perception

Abstract

The fast pace of emerging product categories highlights the importance of ensuring that category labels meet consumer expectations, but the effect of category labels on consumer perception is not well understood. To examine the impact of category expectations on liking, 384 consumers were assigned one of four conditions where they were told they were drinking either milk (broad condition), plant-based milk (intermediate condition), almond milk (specific condition), or given no information (control group). All groups were given six almond milks and asked to rate their liking on a 9-point hedonic scale. Consumers in the broad, intermediate, and specific conditions were also asked to rate category fit on a 9-point Likert scale. Category label significantly impacted overall liking, with the specific condition having significantly higher liking than the control, followed by the intermediate and then the broad condition. External preference mapping showed that the sensory drivers of liking were constant across the four conditions, but the sensory drivers of category fit changed depending on the condition. Our results suggest that increased specificity in category labels can increase product liking, underscoring the importance of sensory evaluation for understanding the link between category labels and consumer perception.