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As the emotional/experiential aspect is still marginalized in the literature, this paper aims to explore the role of negative emotions associated with past experiences (PEs) in explaining the preventive health behavior (PHB) of the consumers with a chronic disease.

From the perspective of experiential marketing, a multi-method exploratory study was conducted among consumers with type 2 diabetes. The investigation process applied phenomenological interviews, visual projections and consumer diaries to adequately capture the emotional responses related to consumer experience of healthy diet behavior.

The results of a methodological triangulation show that the generation of negative emotions associated with PE with the PHB stimulates adopting healthy eating behavior rather than restraining it.

The multi-method protocol chosen for this experiential study is a response to the methodological requirements for a broader conception of consumer experience in the context of chronic diseases. This protocol can be used for further empirical investigation of emotional reactions experienced in consumer behavior in the broad sense.

Managerial implications are provided for health-care professionals on how to implement marketing strategies and practices based on the identified consumer profiles.

This study highlights the significant role of experienced emotional responses in explaining the adoption of the PHB and underlines that not all decisions are rational. It also contributes to the literature by specifying a mixed-method approach of data collection for deeper investigation of the consumer’s emotional responses to the health behavior experience.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the determinants of the need for reassurance, while emphasizing the role of perceived traceability.

Data were collected through individual interviews, and analyzed by thematic analysis.

Results showed that the traceability of modern foods is low perceived by the consumers. This indirectly influences the need for reassurance toward the modern foods by reducing the confidence in these products and strengthening the feeling about the risk associated to their consumption.

The major limits of this paper concern the development of the research model through the means of an exploratory study. This can affect the possibility to generalize results since the described hypotheses are not quantitatively validated. Another limit is concerned by the non-investigation of moderating factors, which can be the object of future researches.

This paper is one of the few efforts integrating the need for reassurance in a theoretical model of consumer behavior, and explaining its origins. This justifies the use of a qualitative methodology.