Acceptance, purchase intent and preference of semi-industrial chocolate

Resumen

Objective: To determine consumer liking for three types of semi-industrial chocolate and identify the critical attributes for acceptability, purchase intent, and preference among local consumers.

Design/methodology/approach: The affective testing method was conducted with 60 regular consumers in the region, who evaluated acceptability on appearance, color, aroma, flavor, aftertaste, and texture using a nine-point hedonic scale. Data were analyzed using analysis of variance. Acceptance and purchase intent were measured using a binomial scale (yes/no), and preference was measured using a three-point ordinal scale.

Results: Analysis of variance revealed that consumers liking was significantly different among the three types of chocolate, with overall liking scores ranging from 6.18 to 8.10 on the hedonic scale. The sample with the highest liking was milk chocolate, and the lowest was dark chocolate. Flavor and aftertaste were the key attributes for overall acceptability and purchase intent. Preference analysis indicated that milk chocolate was the most preferred.

Limitations on study/implications: The findings are limited to local consumers in the region and therefore cannot be nationally generalized.

Findings/conclusions: This study highlighted that the most important sensory attributes for local consumers when choosing chocolate products were flavor, aftertaste, and texture.