Although South Africans mostly consume cow's milk, cow's milk alternatives/variants are increasingly becoming popular and this could be attributed to higher demand and changing consumer attitudes. Using expectancy‐value theory approach, this study aimed to explore consumers' beliefs that exist to influence their attitude towards cow's milk alternatives/variants and consequently the acceptance or non‐acceptance thereof. Thirteen focus groups, each with four to eight participants, were conducted at the University of South Africa (Unisa) Science Campus in Florida, Gauteng, South Africa. Genders were separated to improve the facilitation of the discussion. The semi‐structured discussions explored and gave an insight into consumer attitudes and perceptions that influence acceptance of cow's milk alternatives/variants. The recorded discussions were transcribed and the content was analyzed for emerging themes and categories by two independent parties, who then compared these emerging themes and categories. Results showed that the primary factors that influence consumers' beliefs and, ultimately, attitude formation and predisposition to accept or reject cow's milk alternatives/variants are acquired through knowledge and perceptions coming from (1) direct experiences, such as familiarity with the products' internal and external attributes, conditional willingness and causal factors, (2) indirect experiences ingrained from childhood and (3) association, where consumers had no reference to the product to attach attributes for belief formation, leading to being astonished at the thought, being curious about the product or having no interest in it. This study demonstrated that consumers' acceptance of cow's milk alternatives/variants will ultimately depend on product‐related expectations.