Consumer Preferences for Local Chocolate Consumption. Implications from Market Segmentation at Ecuador

Abstract

In this paper, we present a study of consumer preferences for chocolate consumption at Ecuador. The objective of the study was to identify consumer preferences for the following attributes of chocolate: organic, origin, composition, flavour, packing, recognized brand image. A self-administered questionnaire was used with the possible combinations of the aforementioned attributes as a preference elicitation method. Conjoint analysis procedure facilitated the identification of customers’ preferences on product attributes, predict the optimal combinations of product attributes and show which attributes are the most important considering when they evaluating product alternatives. A cluster analysis with the preferred option was employed to identify distinct clusters that reflected respondents’ different product preferences. The results shows that the type of chocolate that will most satisfy consumer preferences is the organic, locally sourced, combined with nuts, bitter, and packaged with plastic cover with a recognized brand image. Four different groups of consumers were identified. The results obtained facilitate the future behavior of producers and marketers of chocolate in the Ecuadorian market to boost the consumption of locally produced chocolate.