The Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework is a way to understand why people 'hire' a product to solve a specific problem or satisfy a certain need. Rather than looking solely at who a person is or what they buy, JTBD focuses on the circumstances that drive a particular choice. In other words, it asks: what is the person trying to get done when they use this product?

In the food industry, especially with comfort foods, people are rarely just filling their stomachs. Instead, they might be trying to regain a sense of calm after a hectic day, relieve stress, relive a memory, or share a bonding moment with family. JTBD helps bring those hidden motivations to light.

Applying JTBD to Comfort Foods

Comfort food categories offer a perfect use case for JTBD in food product development. Why? Because the purchase choice often isn’t rational – it’s emotional. People choose comfort foods for how they want to feel – not just what they want to eat.

For example, a consumer might:

• Choose a ready-made frozen lasagna not just for convenience, but because they want to feel like they’re having a 'real' meal after a long day.
• Reach for a chocolate bar because it helps them reset emotionally after a stressful moment.
• Buy a specific brand of soup because it reminds them of childhood or someone they love.

These scenarios represent emotional 'jobs' that consumers try to fulfill using food products. Traditional market research might report that chocolate sales increase during certain months. JTBD goes further by asking what emotional moment or unmet need drives that behavior.

Key Benefits of JTBD in Food Innovation

Understanding the jobs consumers assign to comfort foods allows brands to:

• Design products that meet both functional and emotional consumer food preferences
• Craft messaging that resonates with specific moments or needs
• Innovate in ways that are grounded in real-life experiences

In a fictional example, a frozen food brand might uncover through JTBD research that their best-selling pasta dishes are often bought by single parents seeking a five-minute 'mental break' at dinnertime that still feels nourishing. With that insight, they might reposition the product with messaging around self-care, rather than speed alone – unlocking both creativity and relatability in their campaigns.

By focusing on what people truly need – emotionally and practically – JTBD in food empowers brands to stay grounded in the human experience, which is particularly critical in categories driven by comfort and emotion.

Not all food decisions are logical – many are emotional. For example, in categories like soup, sweets, and frozen comfort foods, consumers might often make choices based on how they want to feel, rather than nutritional facts or brand labels. This makes understanding emotional buying behavior essential for any company competing in these spaces.

Market research for indulgent food products must go beyond taste tests or pricing comparisons. It should explore the emotional drivers behind snack buying – the underlying reasons why a person reaches for a quart of ice cream or microwaves a can of soup instead of cooking. These deeper needs can influence everything from repeat purchases to brand loyalty and innovation success.

Common Emotional Jobs in Comfort Food Categories

Here are a few relatable emotional needs that often arise in studying comfort food insights:

• Relief: Seeking to decompress after a stressful day
• Nostalgia: Wanting to reconnect with comforting memories of home or childhood
• Reward: Choosing a sweet snack as a treat after accomplishing something difficult
• Belonging: Enjoying moments of connection with family or friends through shared meals
• Care: Providing a sense of being nurtured – for yourself or loved ones

Understanding consumer emotions in comfort food categories lays the foundation for effective product positioning. For instance, a premium frozen meal brand might explore why people choose frozen comfort foods even when they have fresh ingredients on hand. The reason could be emotional: perhaps the cooking process feels overwhelming when one is emotionally drained, and a frozen option restores a sense of control and ease.

When companies tap into these emotions using frameworks like JTBD, the result is more than a product – it’s a partner in daily emotional life. This approach can keep a soup brand relevant across generations or help emerging sweet snack brands establish a loyal customer base by addressing real, raw moments people experience.

The Role of JTBD in Highlighting Emotional Gaps

Jobs to Be Done helps businesses identify gaps in the emotional journey of their customers – what exists, what’s working, and what’s missing. This can reveal white space for product innovation in comfort food, or reposition existing offerings to speak more directly to the emotional jobs consumers are trying to solve.

For example, a fictional research project might find that consumers frequently eat a certain brand of cookies late at night because it makes them feel less alone. That emotional insight could point to both a new marketing strategy and a new product variant that enhances that emotional connection – maybe through messaging, packaging, or serving format.

In comfort food, emotion is not a bonus layer – it’s the foundation. Brands that recognize and address emotional consumer needs will naturally stand out in crowded shelves and digital marketplaces, providing lasting value in moments that matter most.

Frozen meals and indulgent snacks often appear to be simple purchase decisions – meals for convenience, treats for taste – but in reality, these categories are rich with emotional undertones. When we apply the Jobs to Be Done (JTBD) framework, we uncover the deeper motivations behind these choices, revealing emotional consumer needs that go far beyond hunger or affordability.

For example, someone buying a pint of premium ice cream on a Friday night may be satisfying an emotional job like “help me unwind and soothe the stress of a long week.” Meanwhile, a consumer purchasing a family-sized frozen lasagna might be subconsciously saying, “help me provide comfort and togetherness during a busy weekday evening.”

These are not just purchases – they’re emotional problem-solving moments. Here's a sampling of fictional but illustrative examples of emotional jobs in the frozen food behavior and sweet snack market research space:

• “Help me feel nostalgic and connected to my childhood” – triggered by classic desserts or regional comfort staples.
• “Help me treat myself without guilt” – connected to portion-controlled indulgent items or products with a ‘better-for-you’ positioning.
• “Help me show care to my family even when I’m exhausted” – common in frozen meals that are quick but comforting.
• “Help me escape the ordinary” – often seen in limited edition or flavor-forward frozen treats and snacks.

Understanding these emotional drivers behind snack buying helps businesses fine-tune how they position products in a crowded market. It’s no longer just about being tasty – it’s about being meaningful in specific, relatable life moments that trigger purchases.

Through this lens, even impulse buys start to reveal structured patterns tied to comfort food insights and emotional jobs. When brands can identify and respond to these hidden needs, they become more than just food brands – they become emotional supports in everyday life.

Once emotional jobs are understood through the Jobs to Be Done lens, brands can build smarter strategies – starting with messaging and moving into product innovation. JTBD gives marketers and product teams a clearer map of what their consumers are truly hiring their products to do.

For example, if a sweet snack fulfills the job “help me reward myself for a small win,” the brand’s messaging might shift from generic indulgence language to something more personal and affirming – such as “you’ve earned this.” These subtle but powerful pivots align more deeply with emotional buying behavior, increasing resonance and relevance.

The same logic applies to innovation. Rather than brainstorming endless flavor combinations or formats in a vacuum, JTBD offers a framework for generating new food product ideas grounded in actual consumer need states. This leads to stronger product-market fit, especially in emotional categories like soups, sweets, or frozen meals.

Ways JTBD Fuels Better Messaging and Product Strategy

• Clarifying the Why: Translating functional benefits (warmth, flavor, convenience) into emotional outcomes (comfort, escape, care).
• Segmenting by Jobs: Moving beyond demographics to target specific emotional needs across occasions – not just ages or income groups.
• Supporting Brand Promise: Using consumer language from JTBD interviews to inform taglines, packaging claims, or in-store copy.
• Guiding Innovation: Identifying feature gaps in current offerings that fail to fulfill emotional jobs – informing formulation, format, and experience upgrades.

In high-emotion food sectors, traditional demographic-driven planning often leaves key insights untapped. JTBD helps close that gap by highlighting emotional reasons consumers buy sweet treats or frozen comforts. These motivations tend to break across age and income lines, revealing more human commonalities than most segmentation studies capture.

By pairing JTBD findings with strong market research for indulgent food products, brands can gain a competitive advantage – not just by making better products, but by telling more compelling, emotionally aligned stories.

Emotional food categories – such as comfort soups, indulgent desserts, and frozen favorites – hold growth potential beyond traditional levers like distribution and pricing. When brands tap into consumer food preferences through a JTBD lens, they unlock opportunities for deeper differentiation and longer-lasting consumer loyalty.

That starts with strong market research food industry practices that combine emotional exploration with behavioral understanding. SIVO Insights often sees success when teams bring together foundational consumer understanding with tools like Jobs to Be Done – because it's not merely about what people do, but why they do it.

What Drives Growth in Comfort Food Categories?

Three strategic levers emerge when emotional insight is put at the center:

1. Sharpened Brand Positioning

When brands understand the emotional work consumers expect them to do – be it soothing loneliness, celebrating small wins, or evoking nostalgic joy – they can better differentiate in crowded categories. This kind of clarity goes beyond product claims. It influences tone, visuals, and voice across every brand touchpoint.

2. Opportunity Identification

Not all jobs are being satisfied today. JTBD surfaces unmet emotional needs in even familiar categories. For instance, there may be few convenient frozen options that satisfy the job “help me feel adventurous during a routine weeknight.” Seeing this gap allows teams to spark business growth from real human needs – not vague trends or assumptions.

3. Agile Innovation Pipelines

JTBD makes the innovation process more grounded and actionable. Instead of running with generic themes like “better-for-you sweets,” teams can build platforms rooted in specific emotional jobs: “help me indulge responsibly after a workout” or “help me reconnect with a childhood memory.” These insights anchor new product development in something real – making failure less likely and impact more likely.

Importantly, insights shouldn’t just live in research decks. At SIVO, we help translate these human truths into action across teams – from R&D, to marketing, to executive strategy. Whether developing new comfort food offerings or repositioning an existing line to meet emotional consumer needs, grounding business decisions in the voice of the customer leads to smarter choices and more sustainable success.

Growth comes when companies elevate their understanding of how Jobs to Be Done helps with emotional food choices. It’s not just about feeding stomachs – it’s about understanding what feeds souls.