Exploring consumer perception about the different types of chocolate

Adriana Gámbaro,Ana Claudia Ellis

doi:10.1590/s1981-67232012005000021

Adriana Gámbaro, Ana Claudia Ellis

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1590/s1981-67232012005000021

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Abstract

The Word Association technique was used to analyze the perception of 120 Uruguayan consumers concerning the different types of chocolate. Similarly, it was estimated how healthy consumers perceived dark, white and milk chocolate to be. As a generic product, chocolate was associated with good taste, positive feelings, sweetness, feelings of warmth and calories/energy. White, dark and milk chocolate were significantly associated with other concepts (creaminess, bitterness, intense taste, etc.). A cluster analysis was performed on the scores regarding the perceived healthiness as reported by the consumers. 3 clusters were identified: Cluster 1 did not perceive any of the three types of chocolate to be very healthy, Cluster 2 considered dark chocolate to be very healthy but white chocolate to be less healthy and Cluster 3 perceived the three types of chocolate as very healthy. The Word Association technique enabled us to identify the differences between the associations made by each cluster.

Highlights

Different types of chocolate can be found on the Uruguayan market, usually obtained from a mixture of cocoa powder or ‘mass’ blended with cocoa butter and cocoa liquor in varying quantities
This is because dark chocolate has the highest percentage of cocoa powder, whereas white chocolate has none at all
Even though the three clusters had different perceptions of the healthiness of the different types of chocolate, they did not differ much in their associations related to chocolate as a generic product or about milk chocolate, despite the fact that Cluster 3 considered milk chocolate as a healthy product and Cluster 1 considered it less healthy. These results show that the Word Association technique does not seem to be complete enough to thoroughly understand the consumer perceptions of food products

Summary

Introduction

Different types of chocolate can be found on the Uruguayan market, usually obtained from a mixture of cocoa powder or ‘mass’ blended with cocoa butter and cocoa liquor in varying quantities. The basic types are as follows: milk chocolate (containing sugar, milk or milk powder, cocoa powder, cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, lecithin and vanilla), white chocolate (without cocoa powder) and dark chocolate (without milk or milk powder) (BECKETT, 2004). Much research has been carried out showing the beneficial effects of the consumption of dark chocolate on human health, mainly due to the high content of polyphenols present in cocoa powder. Other researchers reported that cocoa reduced blood pressure and insulin resistance and improved endothelium-dependent vasodilation in hypertensive individuals (GRASSI et al, 2005)

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