The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework is a powerful approach for understanding why consumers choose the products they do – not just at a surface level, but in terms of the real-world situations, outcomes, and emotional needs they're trying to fulfill. In the CPG industry, this means moving beyond traditional demographics or product categories and focusing instead on the actual problems or goals people are addressing through their purchases.

Understanding the Core Idea of JTBD

At its core, JTBD is about seeing products as tools. People don’t buy a product just to own it – they “hire” it to perform a specific job in their life. For example, a consumer might ‘hire’ a protein shake not simply because they like the taste, but because they’re trying to avoid mid-morning hunger while keeping up with a healthy routine before a long day at work.

In the CPG space, these jobs often blend functional, emotional, and situational needs. The JTBD framework helps CPG brands understand not only what consumers buy, but why and when they buy it – a critical difference when it comes to effective product innovation and positioning.

JTBD in Action: A Simple (Fictional) CPG Example

Let’s say a brand notices that their granola bar sales spike midweek. Traditional metrics might show purchase patterns, but not the reasoning. With a JTBD lens, research reveals that busy parents are using the product as a quick meal replacement while handling after-school pickup. In this case, the job isn’t ‘eating a snack’ – it’s ‘maintaining energy during a rushed routine without sacrificing health.’ That insight can shape everything from marketing messages to package format and product formulation.

Key Aspects of JTBD in CPG Strategy

• Job Discovery: Identifying the core task the consumer is trying to complete in a given moment
• Contextual Understanding: Knowing when, where, and why the job occurs
• Emotional and Functional Dimensions: Recognizing both logical utility and how the product makes consumers feel

By connecting JTBD research to CPG product development and marketing, brands can build more relevant solutions. Whether that’s reshaping a product line to better serve a customer’s needs, rethinking shelf communication, or launching R&D based on unmet jobs, the JTBD framework helps bring clarity to the innovation process.

Understanding the 'job' a consumer wants to get done can be a game-changer for CPG brands aiming to grow. That’s because the clearer you are about the underlying need behind a purchase, the easier it becomes to create meaningful solutions – ones that consumers actually return to again and again. In fast-moving categories where competition is fierce and loyalty can be fleeting, relevance wins. And JTBD gives you the language and structure to stay relevant.

Revealing True Customer Needs

Conventional market research often stops at surface-level attributes: taste, price, packaging. But the JTBD framework goes deeper, shedding light on the contexts, tensions, and emotional drivers behind a product choice. This leads to richer consumer insights – because you're not just asking what people do, you're uncovering what they’re trying to achieve and how your product fits into real lives.

For example, two people may buy the same bottled smoothie, but for completely different reasons. One may be headed to a morning meeting and wants to ‘stay focused while skipping breakfast.’ The other might be ‘recovering after a workout and feeling energized.’ Understanding these distinct jobs helps tailor everything from messaging to where and how a product is placed.

Driving Smarter Innovation

Using JTBD for product innovation enables teams to move from “what can we make next?” to “what problem are we solving for our consumers?” That shift ensures new products aren’t just new – they’re useful. And usefulness, in CPG terms, often leads to trial, habit, and eventually loyalty.

This can also highlight white space in the market – unmet jobs that no brand is currently helping consumers complete. By identifying these gaps, companies can lead with difference and purpose, not just variety.

Benefits of JTBD Thinking for CPG Business Growth

• Sharper product-market fit for both new and existing offerings
• Improved messaging that resonates with consumer intent
• Stronger cross-functional alignment across insights, marketing, and R&D
• Better prioritization of resources around high-impact opportunities

Ultimately, growth in CPG comes from meeting consumer needs more accurately and more meaningfully. JTBD gives you the language for those needs – sometimes before your competitors even know they exist. And when paired with quality market research and consumer intelligence, it becomes a foundational tool for driving sustainable, people-centered brand growth.

Whether you're exploring JTBD for the first time or considering adding it to your broader CPG strategy, understanding your customers' jobs can open up new ways to innovate, connect, and lead.

When choosing a product from the shelf – whether it’s a snack bar, household cleaner, or baby lotion – consumers aren’t just making rational decisions. They’re often solving a problem in a specific context, or answering an emotional need. The Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework helps Consumer Packaged Goods (CPG) brands uncover these deeper motivations by exploring both the emotional and situational “jobs” that products fulfill in consumers’ lives.

What are emotional and situational jobs?

In the JTBD framework, a job refers to the underlying reason a consumer “hires” a product to get something done in their life.

• Situational jobs relate to context: What’s happening in the consumer’s life at the time of purchase or use? For example, they may grab an energy drink because they’re running late and skipped breakfast that morning.
• Emotional jobs reflect feelings or self-perceptions: Does the product make the consumer feel in control, relaxed, proud, safe, or accomplished?

Too often, CPG strategy overlooks these dimensions, focusing on functional benefits (e.g., “low fat,” “fresh scent”) without understanding what real-life problem the consumer is attempting to solve.

Why emotional and situational jobs matter for brands

Understanding these types of jobs unlocks more meaningful consumer insights. These motivations often drive product loyalty, repeat purchase, and word-of-mouth – key drivers of CPG brand growth.

For example, a fictional premium frozen pasta brand might discover that customers aren’t just “feeding their family quickly.” Instead, they’re completing the emotional job of “feeling like a good parent even on busy days.” That’s a powerful insight – and one that could influence messaging, packaging, and future innovation.

JTBD helps uncover what traditional research often misses

Standard surveys might ask, “What feature do you value most in a frozen meal?” But only by asking, “Tell me about the last time you chose a frozen dinner and why?” can we uncover the emotional job behind the purchase. That’s where qualitative market research methods excel – and where the JTBD framework becomes a tool for connecting surface behaviors to deeper drivers.

By identifying emotional and situational jobs in the CPG industry, brands can move beyond demographics and generic personas to develop consumer-first strategies that meet real-world needs.

The true power of the Jobs To Be Done framework in CPG is revealed when brands use it to drive innovation – not just understand consumers better, but build entirely new solutions around what people are trying to accomplish. From identifying unmet customer needs to inspiring product development, JTBD insights help CPG teams create offerings that resonate in competitive markets.

Connecting consumer needs to product opportunities

Once a team understands the core “jobs” consumers are trying to get done, they can uncover valuable whitespace for innovation. For example, let’s say a fictional sports drink company learns that busy commuters are “hiring” their product not to hydrate after exercise, but to stay alert during long drives home. That opens the door for product development centered around functional alertness – not just hydration – and packaging designed for in-car use.

This depth of understanding moves beyond generic consumer preferences and into creating value people truly care about. It leads to product ideas rooted in context – and that’s where breakthrough CPG innovation lives.

Ways companies apply JTBD to product development

• Idea generation: JTBD insights inspire new product concepts that align with consumer goals and frustrations.
• Prioritization: Instead of guessing which feature to add, teams prioritize based on what jobs the consumer values most.
• Positioning: Brands craft messaging that speaks directly to the emotional job they’re solving, not just functional benefits.
• Design decisions: Packaging, usage format, and even flavors can be tailored around the job context (e.g., portability for “eating on the go”).

Importantly, jobs to be done doesn’t replace traditional product development methods – it enhances them. The JTBD framework complements data-driven market research, concept testing, and performance tracking by anchoring decisions in the voice of the consumer from the outset.

When used strategically, JTBD empowers CPG brands to go beyond incremental improvements and develop products that create new demand. In crowded markets, that’s the key to sustainable business growth.

Moving from theory to action is where the benefits of Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) really come alive. If you’re looking to explore this framework within your Consumer Packaged Goods business, the good news is you don’t need to overhaul your entire strategy. Instead, you can integrate JTBD research into your current consumer insights approach to guide smarter product development and strategy decisions.

Start with the right questions

Applying JTBD begins with curiosity—not about what people buy, but why. Instead of asking “What do you like about this product?” ask questions like:

• “Tell me about the last time you needed something like this—what was going on?”
• “How do you decide between options?”
• “What makes a product feel like the right choice in your specific moment?”

Answers to these questions reveal how context, emotion, and goals shape decision-making. This insight becomes the foundation for more human-centered CPG strategy and innovation.

Pair JTBD with the right research approach

JTBD research is most effective when conducted through methods that uncover depth—commonly qualitative formats such as:

• Ethnographic interviews
• In-home usage observations
• Shop-alongs or digital diaries

These techniques give you visibility into the lived experiences behind a purchase—what prompted the need, the environment, and the emotional stakes. That’s where the true “job” is waiting to be discovered.

The path to business growth

As you apply JTBD insights across your brand portfolio, you’ll start to see opportunities more clearly:

• Which customer needs are being over-served? Under-served?
• Where is there demand for new occasions, formats, or use cases?
• Which product attributes align with emotional jobs worth emphasizing in marketing?

Whether you’re launching a new product, optimizing a current one, or refreshing your messaging, JTBD gives you a reliable lens for connecting real customer needs to market-ready solutions.

For many CPG brands, partnering with an expert market research team helps bring the JTBD framework to life. With the right methodologies and experienced moderators, you can confidently turn qualitative inputs into focused strategies for innovation and growth.