Understanding American Premium Chocolate Consumers' Perceptions of Craft Chocolate and Desirable Product Attributes Using Focus Groups and Projective Mapping (2024)

Reason for focus groups.

Because there is no previous literature or reports describing U.S. premium chocolate consumers' attitudes toward craft chocolate or desired chocolate attributes, an exploratory method such as a focus group is an appropriate method to achieve our research objectives and generate hypotheses for future work.28]. Furthermore, a focus group allows us to look for a range of ideas or feelings that premium chocolate consumers have about chocolate and uncover factors that influence opinions, behavior and motivation. In addition, a focus group introduces us to consumer language related to premium and artisanal chocolate [28].

Reason for projective mapping.

In collaboration with the focus group, a projective mapping activity was conducted in advance by focus group participants and used as a visual aid during focus group introductions [29]. Projective mapping is a rapid technique in which consumers place products on a blank field in terms of their relationship to each other (e.g. taste, quality, etc.) [29]. In food and consumer science, qualitative methods such as focus groups are sometimes considered less robust than quantitative methods because participants may be influenced by social biases and do not express their honest personal opinions.30–32]. One solution the Risvik et al. [29] proposed, the use of a focus group is combined with a projective mapping activity, where the quantitative mapping activity can be discussed during the focus group and used to validate the focus group findings. With this work we sought to demonstrate that chocolate products could be mapped by consumers, that the map could be used as an initial visual aid during the focus group itself, and that the map could later be analyzed and used as a tool for comparison with and improve the results of the focus group.

Selection of participants.

Participants were recruited via email using two electronic mailing lists with voluntary subscribers consisting of staff, students, and community members on the Pennsylvania State University campus and surrounding area (State College, PA). Potential participants completed an online screening for eligibility and willingness to participate created in Compusense Cloud software (Compusense Cloud, Academic Consortium, Guelph, ONT, Canada). In an effort to find committed consumers of premium chocolate, screening criteria were developed based on best practices described by Stone, Bleibaum and Sidel [33], and to be stricter than the Mintel chocolate consumer criteria “18+ and chocolate purchased in the last three months” [16]. The criteria used in this experiment were as follows: between 18 and 70 years of age; not pregnant or lactating; no food allergies or sensitivities to chocolate; fluent English; primary food shopper; frequent chocolate consumption (from daily to two to three times a month); weekly to monthly consumption of premium chocolate (Godiva, Lindt, Guittard, Eclat, Dandelion, Ghirardelli, Vosges, etc.); and articulation as determined by responses to an open-ended question about the participant's “most memorable chocolate moment.” Of the 625 subscribers who completed the screening, a total of 27 (15 women), supposedly healthy individuals between the ages of 22 and 67, were selected as participants, who gave informed consent, chose to participate, and were compensated for their time ( $10/hour). All selected participants chose to participate.

Projective map design.

One week before the focus group, participants were assigned a projective mapping activity to complete individually at home [29,34–36]. Each participant received a sheet of plain white paper measuring 17 inches (43.2 cm) by 11 inches (27.9 cm) and 47 stickers (see Figure 1)https://doi.org/10.26207/a863-pp02) of various chocolate products, ranging from regular to premium and artisanal chocolate. As in other projective mapping studies with non-taste stimuli, participants did not eat the products [37]. Participants were asked to do the following:

Rate the chocolate products (on the stickers) based on similarities or differences in quality characteristics by placing similar samples close together and more dissimilar samples further apart on the attached large sheet of paper. When you have reached a final configuration, write down the appropriate descriptions of the chocolate's properties directly on the large sheet of paper, if necessary. If the final configuration contains groupings, you can highlight and/or circle the groupings as you see fit.

The term “quality” was used in an attempt to provide clear, but non-directive, instructions to promote nuanced and individual groupings that reflect the participant's preconceptions about desirable characteristics. Participants took the sheet with them to the focus groups and used it as a visual 'show and tell' tool to describe how they perceive chocolate quality.

Focus group design.

A total of four focus groups of approximately 120 minutes each were held in January and February 2017 with 5-8 participants. Each focus group was led by the first author and observed by the second and last author. The discussions took place in the Pennsylvania State University Department of Food Science Focus Group Room, a purpose-built qualitative research facility in the Erickson Food Science Building (University Park, PA, USA). All discussions were audio recorded using voice recorders (Sony ICDPX370, New York, NY, USA). The audio recordings were transcribed verbatim by a commercial transcription service (Landmark Associates, Phoenix, AZ, USA) and compared to the audio recordings to confirm completeness. Immediately following each focus group, the moderator and two observers mapped each focus group into themes.

Because chocolate is considered an aphrodisiac and American women have reported craving chocolate during perimenstrual periods, the focus groups were divided by gender into two groups of all men and two groups of all women, to follow best practices and to give participants the opportunity to feel comfortable discussing chocolate.38–42]. Apart from basic demographic information collected from the participants based on the information they provided to the database, no information about occupation, education, income or anything else was collected from the participants.

The focus group question trail was divided into three parts and was intended to encourage comfortable discussion of the research questions by starting with general questions that were ultimately narrowed in focus (seeS1 appendixfor focus group moderator guide) [38,43]. In the first part, participants introduced themselves, recalled their most important chocolate moment that they had formulated in the screener, explained their projective map to the group and described how they interpret chocolate quality. In part two, participants tasted five different chocolate bars, one at a time, presenting a variety of commercial chocolates (see Figure 2).https://doi.org/10.26207/a863-pp02) [9]. Due to the ubiquitous presence of the Hershey's milk chocolate bar (The Hershey Company, Hershey, PA, USA) in the United States, it was selected to represent mainstream chocolate.9]. Lindt 70% cacao dark chocolate (Lindt & Sprüngli USA, Inc., Stratham, NH, USA) was selected to represent premium chocolate and a Swiss and European bar. Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate Bar 70% Cacao (Mondelēz International, Inc, East Hanover, NJ, USA) was selected because it is also premium and has an organic Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Fair Trade label. Endangered Species Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and Almonds (Endangered Species Chocolate, Indianapolis, IN, USA) was selected as the third premium chocolate because the chocolate bar supports a good cause with 10% of the proceeds benefiting an endangered species on the packaging [44,45]. Additionally, Endangered Species Chocolate prominently displays its Non-GMO Project, Fair Trade, Gluten-Free and Vegan certifications. Endangered Species Chocolate has since changed labels due to internal consumer and ethnographic research [44,45]. Dandelion Chocolate 70% Ambanja, Madagascar (Dandelion Chocolate, San Francisco, CA, USA) was chosen to represent artisan chocolate because Dandelion is one of the original artisan chocolate companies and a leader in the segment [2]. We considered using a counterbalanced order for sample presentation, but chose not to do so for both simple logistical reasons (i.e. any blocking should be per group, not per individual, to avoid mixing of samples), and for more critical reasons, because we were concerned that contrast and transfer effects would occur if a group tried a simple mild chocolate immediately after an intense and complex chocolate, as transfer and contrast would obscure the taste of the simpler milder chocolate [46,47]. Although not yet established in the sensory literature for chocolate, the same logic from least intense to most intense is used in wine tasting as it has been shown to have a dramatic impact on the perception of wine flavor.48]. All presented chocolate bars were also used as stickers in the projective mapping activity. Due to availability, a different origin was chosen for the dandelion chocolate bar, but the packaging appeared almost identical to the sticker used (see images 1 and 2https://doi.org/10.26207/a863-pp02). Participants tasted one piece of each chocolate bar at a time and were given time to take notes. Then, in a group discussion, they described the product in terms of taste, packaging, certification labels, and other elements and features they found attractive and unattractive. In part three, participants discussed what motivates them to purchase a new food product and shared words they would use to describe the chocolates they tasted. With a total of four focus groups it was possible to identify central themes for the project within financial constraints [49–51].

Focus group word clouds.

For part two of the focus groups, each transcript was segmented based on the chocolate product discussed (i.e. Hershey's, Lindt, Green & Black's, etc.) and combined across all four focus groups. These text segments were analyzed using Voyant Tools (version 2.4) to remove stopwords, create frequency tables, and ultimately word clouds [52]. Stop words were defined as function words that had no meaning (e.g. not) or words that were used so often that their meaning did not differ between the corpora (e.g. chocolate).52]. The texts were cleaned using Voyant Tools' standard English stop word list of 485 words, which was modified to include additional words from the corpora. Word clouds were composed of the top 95 words used for each chocolate bar.

Analysis of focus group data.

Focus group transcripts were analyzed using grounded theory and inductive methods with an emphasis on emerging themes.50,53]. Grounded Theory is an appropriate method because artisanal chocolate is a new food product and there is no prior research from which codes can be derived.50,54].

Coding was done by two researchers who read through a transcript and agreed on a master codebook relevant to the research questions.55]. The “classic approach,” also known as the “scissor-and-sort” technique, was used to cut the printed transcripts into pieces, group similar quotes, and then assign the quotes to codes.50,55–57]. Particular attention was paid to quotes where participants showed emotion, enthusiasm, passion or intensity [55,57]. Although topic frequency in quotes was observed, this was not a mandatory criterion for coding, and anomalous quotes were acknowledged [57]. Once the codes were determined, they were collected into memos and the memos were divided into themes.50]. Themes were rechecked for consistency, coherence and distinctiveness across researchers and against the thematic maps produced at the end of each focus group.

Analysis of projective map data.

Projective maps were analyzed using Multiple Factor Analysis to create a product map with a product description overlay [58]. Three participants did not follow the instructions correctly and their product cards were unusable, leaving 24 product cards to be analyzed. First, the x,y coordinates of the stickers were measured using the bottom left corner of the card as the origin [59,60]. The words used to describe the products on the cards were coded by three researchers who agreed on a master codebook. The three researchers together coded 12 of the 24 cards in total, the remaining cards were coded by one researcher. One sample, the Raspberry Ghirardelli tablet, was omitted from the analysis due to a coding error. The final chocolate product number was 46.

Data were analyzed in R (version 3.5.1) [61] with RStudio (version 1.1.456, Boston, MA, USA) using the FactoMineR and SensoMineR packages [62,63]. A crosstab has been created with the X, Y coordinate data as the first 46 columns and the code words as the last 24 columns per Product. Multi-factor analysis [58,63,64] was used to interpret the product space containing the qualitative data by running the code words as additional variables [58,63,64]. Word Count Analysis [62] was used to identify consensual words, which are defined as words that have the same meaning at a significant level for most participants (S< 0.05) by consensus [65].

Figure 1.Word clouds created from the 95 most commonly used words for the selected chocolate products in the focus groups.

a) Hershey's milk chocolate, b) Lindt 70% dark cocoa chocolate bar, c) Green & Black's organic dark chocolate bar 70%, d) Endangered species dark chocolate with sea salt and almonds, e) Dandelion chocolate 70% Ambanja, Madagascar.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240177.g001

Fig. 2.Desirable properties of chocolate products for consumers of premium chocolate.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240177.g002

Afb. 3.Product map created from projective mapping task.

Chocolate products are shown in italicized black consensus words (S< 0.05) are in bold red and non-consensual words are in gray.

https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0240177.g003

Origin of chocolate or cocoa.

Participants found European chocolate to be of higher quality than American chocolate. On the product card (Fig. 2), the description 'European', although not a consensus, is geographically closer to the word 'quality' than the description 'American'. This reinforces the focus group discussion in which a female consumer described her product card:

I said simple American candy bars, but I also really like Ghirardelli and Lindor. I love Lindt and Ritter. I love Ritter bars. Yeah, they're not that cute, I guess. It's more like the European ones where you get the rich chocolate and you don't just get that sugary effect - where, I think, the American bars, you kind of just - sometimes it's more sugary than chocolatey.

The NCA survey found that 45% of premium chocolate consumers believe European chocolate is better than American, compared to 39% who believed there was no difference and 16% who believed American chocolate is better.9]. A Belgian choice experiment showed that the country of production was very important for chocolate lovers and was one of their most important considerations when buying chocolate [18]. Belgian chocolate was strongly preferred in the study, probably due to nationalistic tendencies and the Belgian history of inventing the filled chocolate bonbon or praline.18,84]. While many studies have explored consumer preference for cocoa country of origin, this was not addressed by consumers in our study [24,85]. Consumers of premium chocolate may be more familiar with traditional chocolate-producing countries, such as Belgium and Switzerland, than with the taste associated with origin chocolate. Leissle explains that "Belgian chocolate" has a market advantage over "Ghanaian cocoa" because chocolate eaters have become accustomed to flavors associated with distinctive chocolate styles rather than flavors associated with cocoa's origins: Swiss is creamy due to extra cocoa butter, Belgian is soft milk, while American is milky or slightly sour [86].

Handmade.

Consumers differentiated between products that appeared handmade and commercial chocolates. The distinction was made on the basis of packaging, type of chocolate (dark or milk) and taste. A male consumer said:

I think it's also to give you the feeling that these are made by hand in small batches, and these are packaged by hand, and these labels are applied by hand..

Another male consumer explained the commercial chocolates on his projective card:

There is a kind of corner for mass market chocolates which generally contain a lot of milk, sugar or other additives, not necessarily as much cocoa.

This finding is consistent with Leissle's [4] are working on the use of "artisan" as a label by artisan chocolate makers. Her textual discourse on 129 artisan chocolate websites shows that 49% of artisans label themselves as 'artisan' and the only common definition of artisan is that it is not 'industrial'.4]. When artisan chocolatiers succeed in conveying a handmade aesthetic, they effectively convey that they are small in size and not industrial.

Cocoa percentage indicates high quality.

Consumers indicate that products with the cocoa percentage on the packaging indicate that the chocolate bar is of high quality. Although not found to be a consensus term, "cocoa content" was listed on the product card under the premium chocolate types. A male consumer said:

Just from a packaging standpoint, I like that they say "70 percent." I think that says something about the quality of the bar. I thought it was a rich chocolate bar. You could taste the cocoa in the bar, which I think also says something about the quality of the chocolate. It was sweet, but it had that signature dark chocolate bitterness to it, which I also love. I thought it was fantastic.

In the NCA survey, 53% of premium chocolate consumers and 73% of fine chocolate consumers said cocoa percentage was important and had a significant impact on their purchasing decisions [9]. Premium chocolate consumers preferred a cocoa percentage between 71-80%, while fine chocolate consumers preferred percentages of 75% or more [9]. In the FCIA's consumer work, chocolate lovers overwhelmingly preferred dark chocolate and cited cocoa percentage as very important in their purchasing decision.6]. A Spanish consumer test comparing the same chocolates with and without packaging revealed three consumer segments: consumers who would buy a product because the cocoa percentage is stated, consumers who do not care about the cocoa percentage, and consumers who are less likely to do so. buy chocolate because the cocoa percentage is indicated [87].

Chocolate with a cocoa percentage on the label is usually dark and consumers strongly associate dark chocolate with quality. A female consumer explained:

I think milk chocolate is of lower quality. I don't know why, but dark chocolate is more refined for me...

Focus groups of chocolate consumers in Pennsylvania and New York also found that participants associated dark chocolate with good taste and social distinction.88].

The golden color indicates high quality.

Participants focused on the color of gold incorporated into the packaging as an indicator of high quality and high price. The lettering on the Lindt 70%, Green & Black's and the dandelion package is gold-colored, and the inner foil packaging of the Green & Black's bar and the dandelion stick is gold-colored (see image 2)https://doi.org/10.26207/a863-pp02). While the main colors of the Lindt package are black and white, and the Green & Black package is black and brown, gold is the dominant color on the outer and inner packaging of the dandelion stick. A female consumer said about the Lindt 70% bar:

Yes. The packaging, the gold there, I mean, it's kind of fancy. You gotta like this because it's gold. [Laughter] You know? This is top class, really good.

Several consumers referred to the fictional character Willy Wonka and the golden ticket in his chocolate bar from the children's book,Charlie and the Chocolate Factory[89] and the movie,Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory[90]. A female consumer said regarding the Green & Black bar:

…the gold packaging with the gold foil is like a Willy Wonka moment. [Chuckles] I don't know. It just feels very special.

Based on these focus groups, we suggest that American consumers of premium chocolate, in the context of premium or artisanal chocolate, may consider the gold color on the outside of the package, as lettering, as an inner wrap film, or as a theme for the package, whole package. indicate high quality and a high price.

To the authors' knowledge, there is no published scientific literature associating the color gold in packaging with consumers' perceptions of expensive or high-end products. Overall, there is very little published color-related consumer research, which is likely because color is very specific to the type of product being sold, the desired brand personality, and the culture in which the product is being sold.83,91–94]. Research has shown that packaging color has a major influence on consumers' perception of product quality, brand personality, awareness and purchase intention, because color associations are activated by referential meaning, which happens consciously and unconsciously.92,95–97]. One way in which referential meaning works is that a strong brand becomes associated with a distinctive color that becomes inextricably linked to the product class and is eventually expected to appear in other brands within that product class.98–100]. In our focus groups, the color gold was strongly associated with the fictional character Willy Wonka and the golden ticket he placed in his chocolate bars, as well as associations with high quality and high prices. Therefore, we suggest that Willy Wonka may have been the first to communicate the connection between gold and quality chocolate to generations of children and adults who read the book or watched the movie.89,90].

Thick foil indicates high quality.

In addition to color, consumers found the film thickness to be of tactile and practical importance. A female consumer compared the thin foil of the Lindt bar to the thicker foil of Green & Black's and Dandelion:

This one also doesn't tear that easily. It's, I mean, you could just breathe on them and they just fall apart in your hands. You think, "Well, now I hate it, I have to eat it all." This one has the fine folding ability, really into the foil.

Consumers fixated on film thickness as an indicator of quality and long discussions arose in the women's focus groups about film functionality. With thick foil, consumers can purchase a tablet chocolate bar, eat a small portion, and then wrap it up to eat more later without worrying about the foil tearing and exposing their wallet or purse to chocolate chips.

Previous packaging studies have mainly focused on outer packaging, but Krishna et al. [83] introduced a new taxonomy for packaging, describing outer, intermediate and inner packaging. They explain that all three parts of the packaging are important to create a streamlined communication of the product's brand identity. In our study, the outer chocolate packaging consisted of plastic film (Hershey), cardboard (Lindt 70%) or paper (Green & Black's, Endangered Species, Dandelion); the middle package was either absent (Hershey) or had a silver (Lindt 70%) or gold (Green & Black's, Endangered Species, Dandelion) foil; and the inner wrapping was the mold used for the chocolate. Our results show that intermediate and outer packaging is of great importance to consumers of premium chocolate. Interestingly, the participants did not discuss the properties of the chocolate mold itself.

Sustainability labels as a proxy for trust.

Consumers of premium chocolate varied dramatically in their knowledge and importance of sustainability brands, which was directly related to whether that brand served as a proxy for trust. Some consumers knew the exact definition of USDA Organic and Fair Trade certifications, while others had never heard of the terms. Still others were confused about the meaning of organic and fair trade, thinking they were the same.

Some consumers of premium chocolate clearly understood the Fair Trade and Organic certifications and decided to only purchase products with these certifications. A male consumer said:

Okay, organic. I think it's important to have organic ingredients and organic food because I know it hasn't been sprayed with pesticides and chemicals. Fair Trade tells me that they paid a fair price for the cocoa beans, and that they did not exploit the farmer. These labels are on almost everything I buy.

One female consumer explained that buying certified chocolate was her compromise because she could not buy locally grown chocolate:

I think that's attractive because we don't grow cocoa beans here. You don't like coffee either. I'm a big coffee drinker. You want to know because I can't get it locally because I want to use it and might as well support something that at least tries to be environmentally conscious. If they all have to put little stickers on them, then so be it. I think that's a good thing.

These consumers strongly believed in sustainability certifications and convincingly told us that they regularly purchased products with sustainability certifications. The NCA survey shows that 81% of consumers who are strongly influenced by certifications are willing to pay more for these certifications [9]. Interestingly, the FCIA focus groups found that the importance of sustainability certifications to chocolate lovers varied by region in the United States. Consumers in Seattle stated that certifications were very important and that they would pay more for them, while only half of participants in San Francisco were motivated to purchase certified chocolate [6].

For the two female participants with adopted children from developing countries and other focus group members, fair trade was much more important than organic certification because for them it directly affected people in developing countries. When asked if she would buy chocolate with a sustainability certificate, one of the women said:

…I wouldn't buy at all just because of the organic part of it. Fair trade I would say. I would be too. I have two children adopted from Guatemala, so I know all about fair trade. Yes. That would appeal to me more than the organic. No. I agree that [organic] is just a marketing thing...

The NCA survey of US consumers found that Fair Trade certification is more important to millennials, but that adopting fair labor practices without mentioning the certification is more important to the baby boomer generation.9]. Fairtrade certification turned out to be more important than an organic label for Flemish and French chocolate consumers [17,23]. Another Belgian experiment showed that consumers preferred the fair trade brand over fair trade and organic brand combinations, indicating a strong preference for fair trade over organic.101]. In a choice experiment, Belgian chocolate lovers were given preference over non-fair trade chocolate, all things being equal [18].

Overall, European studies have shown that fair trade certification resonates with consumers, as consumers have strong opinions on issues related to the exploitation of women and child labor, general working conditions and human rights.20,101,102]. In the NCA survey, cocoa growing and chocolate production practices were least important to regular chocolate consumers and most important to fine chocolate consumers [9]. In our research, some U.S. consumers of premium chocolate were concerned about purchasing fair trade products so that manufacturers would get a larger share of the sales.

Confusion of sustainability labels.

In addition to consumers with a high knowledge and interest in sustainability labels, there were also consumers who were deeply confused about the meaning of the label. A female consumer said while eating Green & Black chocolate:

Maybe this is a stupid question. What does organic mean here? Is it an ingredient or something? I mean, that's a stupid question. I mean, they specifically say, like on the label, that it's organic. What does it mean?

Still other consumers believed that fair trade and organic were essentially the same. A female consumer said:

…I know this isn't true, but when I see the word organic I almost feel like it's synonymous with fair trade.

In the US, certifications that can be used on chocolate packaging include Fair Trade, USDA Organic, Rainforest Alliance, and Non-GMO Project Verified [103,104]. In our focus groups, consumers paid the most attention to the USDA Organic and Fair Trade certification logos. The USDA Organic seal is verified by a third party and can only be used if the product meets three main criteria: produced without excluded methods; manufactured using permitted substances; and verified by an authorized certifying agent of the USDA National Organic Program [105]. The goal of Fair Trade certification is to bring transparency to global commodity chains, with the overall goal of transferring capital to producers in developing countries.106]. Fair trade is also a third-party certification, as the standards are set and implemented by four different organizations [106,107].

Our findings with U.S. consumers are consistent with European studies that tested consumers' ability to identify sustainability certification labels. In a Belgian experiment, 60% of Flemish consumers could correctly identify the Fair Trade label, while only 6% correctly identified the organic EU label [17]. In the same study, 16% of Flemish consumers believed that organic chocolate uses fair trade cocoa, while 11% of consumers believe that fair trade chocolate causes less pollution and only 20% of consumers correctly state that fair trade chocolate uses sustainably produced cocoa [17]. In a survey of Italian consumers, 44% checked the box: "I have difficulty interpreting the information on the label" when looking at Fair Trade, Rainforest Alliance and CO₂reduction label [20]. A survey of 126 Brazilian consumers found that 73% wanted their chocolate to be labeled with certifications and 79% said they would pay more for it, but few recognized the certification seals: only 56% correctly identified organic, 36.5% for origin, 15.9% for Rainforest Alliance [85]. A study comparing sustainable consumers in Germany and Great Britain found that almost all British consumers are aware of the Fairtrade label, compared to 90.3% of German consumers [24]. The same survey found that 41% of British consumers were aware of the organic label, compared to 97% of German consumers [24]. Consumer confusion with sustainability labels appears to be an international problem, and American craft chocolate manufacturers have responded by rejecting the use of sustainability labels and instead opting for direct trading systems that they organize themselves [5].

Sustainability labels are not an indication of trust.

For some consumers, fair trade and organic brands were not important and consumers were neutral towards them. As one male consumer put it:

If I like the chocolate and I can afford the chocolate, then I will buy the chocolate. I love that it's all political for me, and I'm not a big political person by nature. I care about the world. I care about humanity in general [laughter], but when I go to buy a chocolate bar, I honestly don't think about it. I don't think about this.

For other consumers, sustainability labels raised red flags and made them skeptical of greenwashing [108]. These consumers weren't sure if they could trust a company to certify across multiple brands and carry them all in a meaningful way. A male consumer:

Yes, I wonder: are they just trying to sell their chocolate, or are they supporting all of this, and if so, is it in a good way? I really have no idea and it would take a lot of research to find out. I'm just trying to get a chocolate bar, that's my starting point, so I'm questioning all that now, to be honest. I don't know.

Rousseau's [17Research and choice experiment showed that a majority of Flemish chocolate consumers were indifferent to organic certification and were willing to pay less for chocolate labeled organic than chocolate without organic certification. Ultimately, 42.9% of survey participants believed that organic certification was a marketing tool, while 32.5% believed that fair trade was a marketing tool.17]. Rousseau [17] concluded that consumers' willingness to pay for these certifications is highly dependent on the product in question, the country and the region. Moreover, it turned out that consumers who regularly eat chocolate attach more value to fair trade and organic certification than people who eat little chocolate.17].

The FCIA's work showed that certified fair trade is more important than direct trade for chocolate lovers and connoisseurs, but that certification would not affect their willingness to buy chocolate.6]. One of the six segments found in the Millennial Candy Bar Survey from the American Midwest was the anti-organic group, which made up 11% of the sample.27]. They had a strong preference for high-fat chocolate, no preference for "clean" labels, and a clear distaste and distrust of organic and non-GMO products.27]. Our finding of the neutrality of sustainability certifications in chocolate products is consistent with Belgian and American research, which may be because consumers feel more strongly about sustainability certifications on fresh products than on chocolate [109].

Price and taste are more important than sustainability certifications.

Several consumers indicated that they prioritize price and taste over sustainability certifications when purchasing chocolate. A female consumer explained:

The price is also slightly different... especially with a university budget, organic is many times more expensive. You say, "Wow. Who cares? It tastes about the same to me." I don't think there is a difference and it is really much more expensive. Okay, I'll just go with the other one. When I really can't taste the difference. Okay, we'll just go with the other one.

When asked about purchasing chocolate with a sustainability certificate, a male consumer said:

Sometimes, but when I do, it's more of a decision that matters: I compared it to some other foods and found the quality to be better. I buy yogurt, Greek yogurt, quite often, and there's a - I think Stonyfield makes organic Greek yogurt that just tastes really good compared to the Giant store brand Greek yogurt, so I buy it that way, and I think some – it's great that it's organic, but the main motivation is that it's just really good.

Our results are consistent with several choice experiments calculating 'willingness to pay' and 'willingness to buy', which have shown that price is a significant barrier to the purchase of products with sustainability certification [110–115]. French chocolate consumers took part in an auction by Becker, DeGroot and Marschak, which later divided them into three groups: 42% of the sample was highly price sensitive and least sensitive to organic and fair trade brands; 41% of the sample unconditionally followed organic and fair trade brands and their willingness to pay was very high; 17% of the sample had the highest willingness to pay and bought only organic and fair trade, depending on the taste of the product [23]. Similar results were found in a choice experiment with British and German chocolate consumers, with almost 50% of both groups of consumers choosing price as the most important attribute when comparing different price levels, cocoa country of origin, chocolate production country and sustainability labels. in their purchasing decisions [24]. Surprisingly, even when informed about the injustices in the cocoa supply chain, English consumers admitted that they were unwilling to pay a 10-15% price increase for chocolate if it was produced in a more socially responsible way.116]. In a choice experiment, Belgian chocolate consumers positively valued both taste and ethical considerations, but taste proxies such as product type (boxed chocolate or chocolate bar), chocolate type (white, milk or dark) or praline filling (alcohol) ultimately dominated their decision. to make [18]. In the FCIA survey, chocolate lovers said taste was the top reason for buying artisanal chocolate [6].

Ultimately, the most important indicator was whether a consumer of premium chocolate found chocolate products with sustainability certification desirable, and what the sustainability label meant to the consumer. In our research, the meaning and importance of the sustainability label appears to lie in a 2X2 matrix, with importance on the x-axis and importance on the y-axis. If the brand means safe or fair, and the consumer values ​​safe or fair, then it is important. If it doesn't mean it's safe or fair, and the consumer values ​​safe or fair, then the brand is irrelevant and the consumer is unlikely to buy it. This meaning and importance matrix is ​​consistent with Carrigan and Attila's 2X2 matrix, developed from their focus group work in Britain, where they identified four types of consumers: caring and ethical, confused and insecure, cynical, and disinterested and ignorant [116].

Other researchers have proposed consumer decision models for sustainably certified products, but none of these models include trust [102,115,117–119]. Our results revealed that trust or distrust towards sustainability certifications are important credibility markers for premium chocolate consumers, which was also reported for Italian chocolate consumers [20].

Finding 'meaning' in a product.

Whether sustainability labels were important to them or not, consumers looked for a sense of purpose in their chocolate bars. The “meaning” focus group participants described are what Pink calls “integration of meaning.”120,121]. Modern consumers look beyond traditional marketing techniques and seek meaning through story, shared values ​​and engaging personal interaction.121].

Focus group participants were enthusiastic about packages that told a direct story, such as the Endangered Species chocolate bar, which featured an image of an endangered animal on the front and a story about the animal on the inside label of the bar (see Figure 2).https://doi.org/10.26207/a863-pp02). In addition to telling a story, consumers were also eager to create stories about the people featured on the Dandelion bar, or come up with ideas about the chef featured on the back of the Lindt chocolate bar. A male consumer said:

This one we're looking at, I think it's interesting because it's almost a story that needs to be told, kind of a description of it, versus you get a Snicker's or a Reese's, I mean it's just a Snicker's or a Reese's.

Storytelling marketing or 'content marketing' has existed as a concept for over 30 years [122]. This type of marketing works well for artisan chocolate, where a story can be about the origin of cocoa beans or how the chocolate itself is made. In his work, Leissle found a story that was part of the construction of craft chocolate, because craft chocolate companies typically have someone who can share the story with the consumer and ultimately create a connection.4].

Focus group participants expressed a strong desire to purchase chocolate that benefits a good cause because it allowed them to share their values ​​with the company and reduce the guilt they felt about indulging in chocolate. A female consumer explained:

I think it would be the donation part or the donating part of it that would make me do it, rather than – I don't necessarily care about organic... I don't care about gluten-free. GMO, whatever. [Chuckles] I like the aspect of, Well, okay, and this sounds weird, but I buy this chocolate and I do something. It makes you feel good. That's probably why I would choose...

Cause marketing was coined over thirty years ago to describe the relationship between fundraising for a good cause and purchasing a company's products.123]. This is likely explained by the fact that ethical consumption, the use of one's political, spiritual, environmental, social, or other motives to choose one product over another, has increased over the past fifty years.124]. lang [119] used a choice experiment to investigate how consumers experience donating as part of a coffee purchase. The survey found that 70% of respondents had a strong preference for fair trade and organic production but disliked charity-related marketing, while 27% of participants preferred charity-related coffee over sustainability certifications [119]. This 27% of participants had a significant and positive willingness to pay 0.55 euros to support a good cause [119]. In contrast, almost all consumers in the premium chocolate focus group showed a strong interest in purchasing chocolate for a good cause and were particularly enthusiastic about supporting endangered species.

Focus group consumers expressed guilt about buying a delicious chocolate bar for themselves. We suggest that purchasing chocolate in aid of charity reduces these feelings of guilt in a process known as guilt complaint.125]. Previous research has suggested that cause-related marketing works best for products that are perceived as frivolous, such as chocolate, rather than products that are a necessity, such as laundry detergent.126].

Focus group participants found meaning in the names written on the chocolate bars, such as the brand (e.g. Hershey's), the cocoa source (e.g. Greg), or the cocoa roaster (e.g. Chiann) (see Figure 2)https://doi.org/10.26207/a863-pp02). The name "Greg" is printed on the back of the Dandelion chocolate bar, and focus group participants created positive stories about Greg. Rather than an actual personal human interaction, this nameplate represented a personal connection and effectively communicates everything Dandelion wants to convey about their size and craftsmanship.4]. A female consumer explained:

I assumed that Greg is the grower, picker and supplier of these cocoa beans that make the chocolate bar and possibly his sugar plantation. I'm not sure... but I was going to say it's kind of like a Bethel... it sounds like it's a craft, more like a small operation. I imagine Greg with his stuff, his plants and making chocolates...I would see it more as a labor of love, making these delicious chocolates.

The Hershey trademark communicates Hershey's corporate values ​​[127]. One male consumer stated:

I don't know Milton Hershey personally, but I know he built that school with all that money. I have close personal friends who went to that school and they get their education paid for for life, so how terrible is Milton Hershey? Does he abuse people who make them in the Dominican Republic? Don't know. I'm inclined to think not...

The association of one's name with a chocolate bar, or the use of one's name as a brand, helps form a brand personality [91]. We hypothesize that this set of human attributes associated with a brand is part of the personal touch that creates a relationship between the consumer and the chocolate bar.128]. As the relationship continues, brand loyalty and ultimately brand love is achieved [129,130]. Nearly 40% of Fortune 500 brands use a personal or place name to help build a relationship, so this phenomenon is not unique to chocolate [131]. However, the results of our focus group suggest that in the case of chocolate, a brand assures the consumer that what they are buying is trustworthy and made by a person.

Focus group participants created meaning and personal impact by creating stories about Greg and his chocolate purchases. They have captured the three most important characteristics of the Dandelion brand: intimate, traditional and refined.2]. In working on Costa Rican cocoa production, supply chain management, and marketing, Haynes et al. [132] found that integrating meaning into cocoa and chocolate products could help chocolate companies and products stand out. They viewed meaningful integration as a viable approach for agile small producers and chocolate companies and as a method that effectively communicates what certifications are trying to communicate, without the drawbacks of cost and confusion.132]. The concept of meaning is similar to Leissle's craft concept in that both attribute a person behind the enterprise.4]. Research has shown that consumers drink craft beer for the meaning it conveys, which, like craft chocolate, allows a consumer to build a unique identity compared to mainstream industrial beer or chocolate consumption.4,82].

Trust is an important characteristic of a chocolate bar for consumers of premium chocolate. Trust is often mentioned in the consumer literature and is defined as "a certain level of subjective probability with which an agent judges that another agent or group of agents will perform a certain action" [133]. Gambetta states that when we say we trust a product, "we implicitly mean that the probability that [it] will perform an action that is beneficial or at least not harmful to us is high enough that we can consider taking a or other form of collaboration. collaboration with [it]" [133]. Focus group participants wanted to trust the chocolate bar they were eating and discussed sustainability labels or the absence of sustainability labels as a form of trust. Regardless of whether or not consumers viewed sustainability labels as a sign of trust, most sought meaning in their chocolate products in the form of a story, a cause or a personal impact.

Chocolate is associated with holidays, celebrations and gifts.

Consumers associate chocolate with certain holidays, such as Halloween, Easter, Christmas and other celebrations and gift giving. As one male consumer explained:

…chocolate and sweets in general are linked to some of my most favorite memories in my life, even growing up, because they were always associated with, usually, a holiday, a ceremony or some event…. these great memories of growing up, it was almost entirely associated with that, aside from any other food, except maybe turkey for Thanksgiving.

Chocolate, holidays, celebrations and gifts go hand in hand internationally. Italian chocolate consumers strongly associate chocolate with Easter and Valentine's Day [134]. Focus groups with French and American (New York and Pennsylvania) chocolate consumers showed that French consumers use chocolate gifts to reaffirm social bonds during celebrations, gratitude or loss, while Americans also give chocolate gifts, but less easily, prioritizing cost, presentation and brands.88]. Additionally, a majority of US focus group participants linked chocolate to childhood and shared memories of eating chocolate in birthday cakes, cookies, candy bars, or ice cream during holidays [88].

Nostalgia through packaging, taste, taste and mouthfeel.

Our work suggests that because children eat chocolate at a young age and it is associated with predominantly positive events, chocolate may be associated with positive emotions. As children grow into adults with purchasing power, they may search throughout their lives for chocolate qualities that remind them of childhood or nostalgia. Nostalgia is defined as “a preference for objects that were more common when one was younger.”135]. These nostalgic qualities come from the packaging, flavor, taste and mouthfeel. Several participants associated chocolate with grandma's house in the Special Occasions section of their product menu (Fig. 2). A female consumer explained:

To quickly get back to the idea of ​​the box of chocolates... I'm getting at least a little nostalgic about the Whitman monsters. Because that's what my grandmother would get for everything. We went to Grandma's and she wanted the box there... Sometimes I want to be particularly nostalgic or I want a little bit - I buy one of those, those little boxes, those - because - but you know what's in that box.

Focus group participants discussed at length how the Hershey bar of their youth had an inner foil wrapper wrapped with a brown paper label. When a female consumer tried the Hershey bar, she said:

You know, it's a Hershey bar. You asked about the packaging. Well, I remember when the packaging came in: it was paper and then there was foil and you had to unwrap it. I mean, I know it is, and it's definitely cheaper and all, but I wish - the packaging just looks like this - that it's not as big of a deal as opening a Hershey bar, like in the past... Yes. It's like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory because you had to open the paper and peel off the foil and oh there's the golden ticket

When consumers thought of the extraordinary two-part process of opening the Hershey bar from their childhood, they thought again of Willy Wonka [89,90]. Our findings may indicate that because Willy Wonka is introduced at a young age, both through a book and a film, there may be positive, nostalgic feelings associated with it that last into adulthood.

Nostalgia was not only important for the packaging, but also for the taste. A female consumer explained while eating the Hershey bar:

I just feel like it's such a simple bar, but it meets so many of my needs. The cocoa just lingers in my mouth. It's the perfect amount of sweetness. Not too sweet, especially in the morning or afternoon. The taste alone is associated with childhood memories and s'mores or chocolate covered pretzels or whatever I made when I was a kid...

Research among Italian consumers found that some of the top chocolate thoughts in the diaries of 'chocolate lovers' were nostalgic. Participants waxed poetic about eating Nutella and associated it with their childhood [134]. Australian chocolate consumers revealed Cadbury made them feel nostalgic [80]. Based on our findings, Nutella is to Italian chocolate lovers what Cadbury is to Australian chocolate consumers and Hershey bars are to American consumers of premium chocolate.

Chocolate is a unique specialty because, unlike beer or coffee, it is consumed from an early age. Our focus group discussions revealed that as that child grows, tastes can evolve from milk to dark chocolate or even from Hershey's to Lindt to dandelion chocolate. But as consumer research from Mintel confirmed, the same consumer would likely still eat milk chocolate in memory of his childhood or his grandmother's house [16]. We suggest that there may be a taste development in some consumers and that others may never enjoy eating dark chocolate. A male consumer explained:

You know what strikes me is you know how kids grow up drinking grape juice instead of grape juice, or American processed cheese instead of cheese? Then they think cheese tastes like this, or grapes taste like this, whatever... I think beer, bread and chocolate are really very similar..

Consumers make a distinction between chocolate that they buy as a gift and chocolate that they buy for themselves.

Consumers made a strong distinction between the types of chocolate they buy as gifts and the chocolate they buy for themselves. In general, they gave higher quality chocolate than they would buy themselves. A male consumer said:

When I think about quality, it would be something I would buy for someone, maybe because it was...something different, something interesting...

This idea was echoed by Finnish chocolate consumers, even major store brand buyers, who stated that they would never buy store chocolate as a gift [79]. Gift chocolate, which may fit into NCA's premium chocolate segment or participants' special occasion segment, is considered a unique segment for premium chocolate consumers.

Focus group participants had different classes of chocolate for different purchasing occasions, and some admitted to “treating themselves” by purchasing specialty chocolates. A male consumer explained his purchase:

There's a chocolatier in Philadelphia, John and Kira's. Nice chocolates, but they are really expensive. They end up costing $5.00 and $6.00 each, so they are very expensive, handmade chocolates. These are the ones I usually buy since I don't eat much. A £50 box of chocolates from John and Kira's might last me six months as I just don't feel like sitting around and eating. I just say, "I'm going to treat myself tonight and I'm going to eat a piece of that chocolate," but I normally don't buy the bars in the stores because I want to consume them all. It's true.

Our findings are consistent with the 2017 Mintel Snacking in Foodservice report, in which 54% of consumers cited the main reason for snacking as “to treat myself” [136]. This is similar to much of the coffee consumer literature, which finds that coffee is consumed as a personal pleasure.137–139].

Chocolate is consumed after consumption for its desired effects.

Focus group participants fluctuated between purchasing chocolate for pleasure and using chocolate as a tool for desired post-consumption effects. Participants described using chocolate for energy, especially while driving. One male consumer stated:

…when I travel, I usually need some kind of chocolate and some water or something to lighten up.

Consumers often associate products with energetic emotions. Coffee consumers have reported that they purchase and consume coffee for its mentally and physically stimulating properties.140]. Italian consumers stated that chocolate gives them energy when they are tired, after exercise or strenuous mental activities.134]. Focus group participants' use of chocolate for energy is consistent with scientific evidence showing that chocolate contains psychopharmacologically active compounds.141].

In the women's focus groups, much discussion focused on the desire for chocolate during menstruation. Women described eating larger amounts of chocolate or different types of chocolate to ease their discomfort. A female consumer said:

I think there may be certain times of the month when I prefer a Hershey bar to the dark chocolate.

Chocolate is the most common food in North America [142]. But its use as a perimenstrual aid is unique to North American women, as shown in a study comparing Spanish and American women.143]. Scientific studies have shown that while there is no physiological reason for consuming chocolate to relieve perimenstrual problems, many American women use the symptoms of perimenstrual syndrome (PMS) as a culturally acceptable reason to indulge in chocolate.39–41].

Consumers also associated chocolate with relaxation or quiet time. As one female consumer noted:

There are just a few mornings where it's a little more stressful than other mornings and it's like chocolate gives you that,"Ah.Okay, I'm ready to go now.” …Yes, there are times when mommy needs chocolate in the morning.[Laughter] It just depends.

Similar to our findings, Italian consumers described keeping chocolate for themselves to enjoy alone [134].

Focus group participants described multiple uses of chocolate (energy, PMS discomfort, relaxation) using language that made chocolate sound medicinal. At some points in the conversation, participants described a “desperate need” for chocolate, as if there was a shortage that could only be satisfied with chocolate. A female consumer said:

…I have been known to drink Hershey's syrup from the container in desperation. [Chuckles] This is the only group I've ever said that to… [It's an] emergency bottle that you can use – [chuckles]. You don't have to chew.

Another female consumer explained, referring to her product card:

It's interesting because I think depending on the mood you're in or your craving for chocolate, it can affect how you group. I mean, when you're in desperate need, it's all in one big pile.

Focus group participants often explained their chocolate cravings as a “desperate need.” This is consistent with other findings from focus groups for chocolate consumers in Pennsylvania, where one participant described herself as a crazy woman who needed a chocolate fix when she was stressed [88]. A “desperate need” was also described by Italian consumers who wrote diary entries about chocoholism, a physiological and psychological addiction to chocolate.134]. Rogers and Smit[144] found that chocolate addiction is more accurately defined as a craving and suggests that people are ambivalent about consuming chocolate because there is a cultural norm that chocolate is highly palatable but should be eaten with restraint. When the concept of restraint is juxtaposed against the human desire to consume, the urge arises.144].

Zarantello & Luomala [134] identified four reasons for Italian chocolate consumption: medicine (physiological or sensory need), mind manipulation (escapism, nostalgia), regression (materialism) or ritual enhancement (interpersonal gifts) [134]. This finding is consistent with our finding that premium chocolate consumers fluctuate between purchasing chocolate for utilitarian and/or pleasure purposes.

Our results are consistent with the 33% of consumers in the NCA survey who viewed mood as the leading factor influencing their chocolate purchases, and participants in the FCIA survey for whom pleasure was the main motivator for purchasing fine chocolate [6,9]. In focus groups with US consumers, Terrio said [88] also found that Americans enjoyed eating chocolate for more energy, less stress, a happier mood and to relax. The relationship between mood and chocolate is strong and such that you can be in a good mood and buy chocolate as a treat, or be in a bad mood and try to imitate a good mood through chocolate.

Methodological implications.

Our work demonstrated the effectiveness of using projective mapping and focus groups to produce rich findings on the research topic of premium chocolate consumers' perceptions of craft chocolate and chocolate quality attributes. We used individual product cards as a 'show-and-tell' object at the start of the focus group, and this provided a common ground for all participants to share how they define and differentiate chocolate products. This activity was a great way to get the discussion started about chocolate, provided an icebreaker to reduce the inherent awkwardness that comes with talking to strangers, and also allowed us to get straight to the point of the discussion. Risvik [29] was right when he suggested that a projective mapping activity could be done earlier and then used in a focus group to enhance the conversation. The follow-up analysis of the individual product cards using Multiple Factor Analysis created one product card and visually showed how premium chocolate consumers differentiated their products. This proved to be an effective non-verbal technique to understand how consumers perceive and segment chocolate products based on quality in an unbiased environment.

By itself, projective mapping does not provide nuanced information about how and why consumers segment products. The focus group data, when analyzed using grounded theory, provided deeper information about premium chocolate consumers' perceptions of craft chocolate and the desired characteristics of chocolate products. But robust analysis of focus group data is extremely time-consuming, so there is a trade-off between the wealth of data collected and the time it takes to collect and analyze it.

Using both methods together, we gained a rich picture of how premium chocolate consumers assess quality and perceive artisanal chocolate. Esmerino et al. [145] also conducted focus groups and a projective mapping activity with fermented milk. They concluded that the projective mapping data was of high quality and quick to collect and analyze, which was preferable to the focus groups, which took a long time to conduct and analyze.145]. In contrast, we found that both methods run side by side provided the richest possible data, especially for a new and understudied food product such as artisanal chocolate. This method is recommended for future exploratory research.

Commercial implications.

This article presents the novel finding that consumers segment products differently than NCA when given only packaging information (without price). NCA may want to re-evaluate their segmentation methodology and consider the utility of chocolate products, other than price, in their product segmentation. Furthermore, premium chocolate consumers grouped premium chocolate with artisanal chocolate, demonstrating that they do not differentiate between premium chocolate bars and artisanal chocolate bars in the absence of price information. We encourage craft chocolate manufacturers to explore ways to differentiate themselves from premium chocolate, to justify their price and encourage premium chocolate consumers to shop. One method could be to use consumer descriptions of craft chocolate from premium chocolatiers, such as those used during the craft chocolate trials, to emphasize flavor and taste characteristics when communicating about their product. In addition, we recommend that craft chocolate companies recognize the external packaging details that premium chocolate consumers valued most: chocolate provenance, a handmade aesthetic, cocoa percentage, gold color and thick foil.

Ultimately, consumers want trust as a credibility attribute and enjoyment and/or utility as experience attributes. There are no clear guidelines for the use of sustainability certifications, because consumer knowledge, perception and therefore confidence vary widely. However, all consumers in our focus groups were interested in meaning that craft chocolatiers can communicate through the use of a story, purpose or personal impact. When craft chocolate companies succeed in conveying trust to consumers, they can immediately focus on other elements of pleasure, such as nostalgia and/or practicality, such as gifts.

Study limitations.

Although effective, this study had some limitations. One limitation was that we were limited to a sample population from a college town in central Pennsylvania. A more robust sample of different geographic locations in the United States may have yielded different results. However, we are pleased with the convergent validity of our findings with those of the FCIA and NCA study, which had a broader, national sample population.6,9].

The projective mapping activity used 47 chocolate product stickers and pieces of paper. Due to the size of the stickers, information about price, ingredients and weight could not be included, and some stickers were dropped by participants and had to be replaced. Additionally, some of the 47 stickers overlapped in the same categories, indicating that the same results could be possible with fewer stickers. Maximum of five stickers per chocolate segment, for a total of 15 stickers for future studies. Another limitation was the use of paper and stickers instead of computer software. Although paper and stickers allowed participants to touch each sticker, place the sticker in the appropriate location on the map, and use their map during the focus groups, measuring X, Y coordinates, and word descriptions was time consuming. Future studies could use tablet-based software to conduct the projective mapping activity, allowing participants to show the tablet during the focus group, and then the software could immediately tabulate product distances and group word descriptions.

Focus group participants tasted five chocolate bars selected to represent regular, premium and artisan chocolate, and each group consumed the five chocolate bars in the same order. The results of this study may be specific to these chocolate bars and the order of consumption, which would have been different if we had used different chocolate bars and randomized the order. Future studies could use different chocolate bars and present them in a random order, although this would require more focus groups to ensure reproducibility. A final limitation was the slow speed of analysis of focus group data using the “scissors and sort” technique. Future studies could instead use computer software for coding.

The main limitations of focus groups are social desirability and the attitude-behavior gap. In our research, we believe that we have minimized social desirability bias by having consumers create their projective maps in advance. However, it is difficult to bridge the gap between attitudes and behavior in consumer research in general.

Suggestions for future research.

This study is one of the few consumer perception studies among American chocolate consumers. More studies could be conducted with a broader geographic variation or type (mainstream, premium, artisanal) of American chocolate consumers. This study suggests that there may be gender differences in consumer use and perception of chocolate products. Future work could delve deeper into isolating these differences and understanding how chocolate can be more effectively marketed to each gender.

To target specific search, credibility, or experiential attributes of craft chocolate, future studies could include choice experiments or experimental auctions in which consumers have to make a choice about which product they prefer in a realistic environment. This would make it possible to compare search, credibility and experience attributes highlighted in this research, such as cocoa content, price, brand names and sustainability certifications, and determine what a consumer would ultimately choose in the marketplace and what his willingness to pay. before.