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

It can be challenging to provide the necessary information for consumers to make adequate decisions in product purchases. Online, as offline, purchase decisions are based on expectations about flavour and taste, offering an opportunity to make healthy and sustainable options more desirable by using the right descriptions. This study investigates the effect of different types of coffee flavour descriptions on consumer psychology, showing how language can influence consumer purchase behaviour. Participants were asked to rate vividness of imagery, desire to taste, and willingness to pay for several verbal coffee flavour descriptions online. The type of description had an effect on all three variables, and a correlation between them was found. 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 are in line with the degree of imageability. The results are not only useful for optimising (coffee) flavour descriptions, but also for shaping consumer choices.