2004-01-28

BELLEVUE, WA, January 28, 2004 - A successful strategy for beverage manufacturers and retailers is to craft a compelling association between a particular drink and a specific consumer mood or feeling. That is among the findings in The Hartman Group's latest Pulse Report, Connecting Beverage Consumption and Consumer Moods.

The second report in The Hartman Group's Pulse Report Series, this study suggests that it is not enough anymore for beverage retailers and manufacturers to simply formulate drinks to satisfy a functional beverage need. Given the ever-widening range of beverage choices, consumers rely on more than utilitarian criteria when selecting a drink. This study examines the extent to which consumers link different moods to specific beverage types. The report reveals what beverages consumers routinely drink, what beverages different moods conjure, and how well consumer moods differentiate beverage categories. The report also offers insights into how beverage marketers can develop a more consumer-centric connection between the beverage brand and different drinking occasions.

Other key findings of this report include:

• Even though different moods often suggest different kinds of beverages to different people, individuals tend to associate just one beverage with each mood.
• The top beverages associated with health and wellness moods include bottled water, 100% juice, soy beverages, and milk/flavored milk.
• Bottled water purchases currently represent an expansion of the range of moods and situations in which consumers use beverages rather than a mere replacement of one beverage category by another.

"Leveraging the connection between consumer moods and beverage choices allows beverage marketers to engage with consumers in a highly crowded beverage marketplace," said Founder, Chairman and CEO of The Hartman Group, Harvey Hartman. "Other research in this area has not gone to this depth to uncover the nuances of consumer emotion and mood that inevitably affect purchase decision."

About the Pulse Report Series
The Hartman Group's Pulse Report Series includes topical and timely industry information, combining both qualitative and quantitative primary research findings with a secondary industry review. The first Pulse Report, The Low-Carbohydrate Diet and Today's Consumer, was published in October 2003. The cost of each report is $750.

About The Hartman Group
The Hartman Group, founded in 1989, is a full-service consulting and market research firm that develops, collects and strategically analyzes consumer and trade information for companies that seek to produce and market natural, nutritional or health promoting consumer products and services.