Beverages in context

In this chapter we first sum up the findings that have emerged from studies conducted in the last three decades, with the objective of integrating context into the investigation on the drinking experience and the perception of beverages. Two main approaches have been identified, namely studies aimed at investigating how context shapes expectations and responses in beverages, and studies on situational appropriateness. Then we propose a new situational approach based on the analysis of written responses to the evoked context of preferred situations to consume coffee, with the aim to investigate individual differences. The adoption of a perspective on situation as co-created by the individual and the environment may contribute to further understanding of the role of the context in the product experience. These findings suggest an interesting pathway to explore, that of the link between the contexts preferred by subjects to consume a product and their individual differences. Further studies in this direction could help increase understanding of food preferences by investigating not only the dimension of the products (i.e., the foods we like) but also the dimension of the context (i.e., how we like the foods we like).