Abstract
Craft chocolate is a relatively new and fast-growing segment of the American chocolate market. To understand American premium chocolate consumer perception of craft chocolate and desirable chocolate product attributes, we conducted a mixed-methods study using focus groups and projective mapping. Projective mapping revealed that participants segmented products in terms of quality based upon usage occasion rather than cost or other factors. We found that American premium chocolate consumers use search attributes such as segmentation, price, availability, and packaging as quality determinants. Additionally, they desire credence attributes that convey trust through, for example, the presence or absence of sustainability certifications, or a semblance of meaning. Premium chocolate consumers seek out experience attributes such as utility and/or joy, which are achieved by purchasing a chocolate product as a gift, for its nostalgic purposes, or for desired post-ingestive effects. We propose a Desirable Chocolate Attribute Concept Map to explain our findings.
Highlights
“Craft” or “bean-to-bar” chocolate has experienced prolific growth in the United States chocolate market in the past twenty-plus years
In 2018, the Fine Chocolate Industry Association (FCIA), an industry group, stated that there were over 300 craft chocolate makers, most of which are located in the United States [6]
In comparison to the mainstream and premium chocolate bars, when the Dandelion bar was revealed, participants were anxious to try it, and in focus group four, participants squealed with delight
Summary
“Craft” or “bean-to-bar” chocolate has experienced prolific growth in the United States chocolate market in the past twenty-plus years. One of the only academic studies on American consumer perception of chocolate compared younger and older Midwestern millennial preference for sustainability certifications on candy bars using focus groups followed by a choice experiment [27]. NCA survey results showed that 27% of chocolate consumers identify as fine chocolate consumers, and of this population, sustainability certifications are most desired by millennials for whom cacao farming and chocolate production practices are important [9]. This finding opposes Young & McCoy’s [27] overall finding that Midwestern millennial consumers (who were not screened based upon level of engagement) are not interested in sustainability labels. The focus groups were not analyzed using a robust method, such as coding, and instead were only summarized
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