Coffee is not just a drink: inside a cup there are emotions, memories, sensations that tell about us, and about Italy. Indeed, coffee is associated with Italianness, home, love, family. Now science is also saying it, thanks to a research by Nespresso in collaboration with AINEM – Italian Association of Neuromarketing which analyzed our reactions when drinking coffee, discovering a world that perhaps until now we have taken for granted.
I study
The research, supervised by Vincenzo Russo, member of the Scientific Committee of AINEM and Full Professor of Consumer Psychology and Neuromarketing at IULM Universityinvolved 44 people who – without knowing what coffee it was or the brand – tasted some coffees from the line Italian inspiration from Nespresso. Line that includes six references – Ristretto, Roma, Venezia, Livanto, Napoli, Kazaar and Arpeggio – which trace the different habits linked to coffee in our country, of which the actress Miriam Leone is the testimonial.
During the tasting, the participants were divided into three subgroups, each of which drank the coffee in different contexts: in the presence of stimuli associated with Italianness (such as images of iconic Italian panoramas), in the presence of stimuli unrelated to Italianness (as iconic panoramic views of foreign cities), in absence of stimulusthe. Meanwhile the researchers examined theirs emotional and behavioral reactions via – respectively – encephalogram and an Implicit Association Test which tests the skin and cardiac reaction times to certain stimuli. In a second moment the scientists then examined the rational reactions of the subjects involved in the test by asking them to answer some questions to investigate the relationship between coffee and memories.
The results of the study
In each of the subgroupsThe emotional response values proved to be extremely positive: that is, the coffee evoked sensations of pleasantness and comfort. Not only: in all tests participants identified a link between coffee and Italy. In addition to those who drank coffee in a context with references to Italianness (in which the values relating to the association were – obviously – higher), there were also others. Another very interesting fact concerns memories: from the answers to the questionnaires it can be seen that in all the participants, coffee brought to mind images of family warmth, company, joy, typical of the Italian dimension. Another curiosity (among many) is the fact that among the Nespresso coffees tasted, the capsule of the “Ristretto” blend was the one most appreciated by the sample exposed to the stimulus consistent with Italy, due to the taste particularly linked to Italian tradition.
Researchers’ comments
«The study showed an emotional and mnemonic activation linked to coffee that we did not know before, as well as a close link between coffee, Italy and Italianness says Professor Russo. «This – he continues – means that there is a strong connection between coffee, memory and emotions: it is as if coffee had a more symbolic than functional value. It is a drink linked to affection, to family, to everything that evokes typically Italian values.”
«This research carried out with Nespresso in the field of neuromarketing has clearly outlined the strategic role of this discipline in understanding and evaluating the impact of emotions and cultural identity on consumer behaviour. The study revealed how the simple act of drinking a cup of coffee is not just a way to satisfy the palate, but rather an experience full of emotions, always intimately connected to Italianness”, comment Caterina Garofalo, President of the Italian Neuromarketing Association – AINEM.
