Psychological Factors that Influence Behavioral Intentions towards Bottled Green Tea in the Japanese Market

抄録

This study explored Japanese consumers’ perceptual model of bottled green tea beverages in the fiercely competitive market, exploring the psychological factors leading to behavioral intentions using an extended Mehrabian and Russell Stimulus-Organism-Response model. In Study 1, through an internet-based survey, we identified factors associated with behavioral intentions and built a model via structural equation modeling. In Study 2, we validated the model, analyzing how Japanese consumers form behavioral intentions in a commoditized marketplace. We demonstrated that while a variety of factors would be related to Behavioral Intention, most notable was Reward. It was further affected by Mood, and Perceived Quality. Our findings bring to light the importance of hedonic factors as drivers for consuming green tea beverages. This study can provide practical marketing insight on how bottled green tea, and possibly other beverage products, in a red ocean market, can be positioned and marketed to Japanese consumers.