Reframing Pleasure: How consumers are becoming more deliberate about indulgence
Traditionally, for soft drinks and ice cream, a treat was a treat. You reached for it, you enjoyed it, you moved on. The choice was rarely scrutinised; indulgence was allowed to be automatic.
But that’s changing.
Consumers are becoming more deliberate about what feels easy enough to say yes to, interesting enough to share, or emotionally rewarding enough to feel worth it.
This is a reframing of pleasure itself. Not simply a product changing how someone feels, but consumers rethinking what indulgence is for, and what they should demand of the products that offer it.
For categories that have traditionally competed on refreshment and indulgence alone, that creates a new challenge: to be chosen for a reason.
We see three shifts shaping what that reason might be.
Choosing pleasure without second-guessing it
Consumers still want indulgent refreshment, but they are becoming more conscious of how it fits into the rest of their lives.
A treat might need to feel lighter, more hydrating, more portion-aware, lower in sugar, higher in protein, or simply better suited to what the body needs in that moment. This doesn’t mean pleasure needs to become worthy or clinical. It means indulgence needs to feel more aligned with people’s lives.
For soft drinks, that could mean thinking beyond traditional refreshment towards everyday replenishment. Hot commutes, sustained screen time, skipped meals and poor sleep are not sports-performance moments, but they are moments when the body still needs something back.
For ice cream, it could mean making pleasure easier to reconcile with the body or goal someone is supporting - through protein, less sugar, smaller portions or simply a format that feels right for the moment.
The opportunity is not simply better-for-you indulgence. It is to design for permission, not compromise.
Moments worth sharing
Indulgent refreshment is increasingly expected to do more than taste good. It has the potential to create a moment.
Colour, layering, distinctive formats, collaborations, nostalgic twists and unexpected flavours can turn an ordinary moment into something worth noticing. Rather than simply satisfying a craving, treats can become small acts of self-expression - of curiosity, culture, identity or discovery.
For soft drinks, this could mean designing for curiosity, not just newness: products that reveal, transform or surprise, giving people the pleasure of discovering something unexpected.
Ice cream already has natural drama, such as melting, scooping and cracking, but much of it is designed for individual enjoyment. There is an opportunity to make that experience more social: a reveal, transformation or shared ritual that people gather around and want to show before they eat.
The oportunity is to design for moment-making, not decoration.
Craving more from less
In a tougher economic climate and the GLP-1 era, pleasure still matters, but increasingly, less needs to deliver more.
A treat may be small in size and price, but it can still offer comfort, escape, reward or the feeling that the day has been improved a little. Rather than being incidental, everyday treats can become genuine emotional punctuation points throughout the day.
For soft drinks, that payoff might come through familiar flavours that create instant recognition and nostalgia — small, affordable moments that provide an emotional lift through something reassuringly familiar.
For ice cream, it could mean concentrating more sensation and reward into a smaller format. An espresso can feel more finished than a large coffee. A truffle can feel more rewarding than a whole chocolate bar. The value comes from concentration and ritual, not scale.
For brands, the opportunity is not simply to offer more indulgence, but to make small pleasures feel genuinely worthwhile.
A better reason to say yes
Taken together, these shifts point to a broader change in how consumers are approaching indulgence.
Pleasure isn’t becoming less important. Consumers are simply becoming more deliberate about what deserves it.
Sometimes they are looking for permission: something that feels easy to enjoy without second-guessing it. Sometimes they want a moment worth experiencing or sharing. And sometimes they want a small pleasure that delivers a disproportionately big emotional reward.
For brands, that changes the innovation question. Instead of simply asking how to make something more refreshing, more indulgent or more novel, perhaps the more useful question is: why will this particular pleasure feel worth choosing?
The future of indulgence may not be about giving consumers more. It may be about giving them a better reason to say yes.
In our latest thought piece, Reframing Pleasure, we explore what this shift could mean for the future of soft drinks and ice cream, and the new innovation opportunities emerging as pleasure becomes more deliberate.
Get in touch if you'd like to see the full thought piece and explore the innovation territories and provocations.
kelly.dawson@studioevery.com
