Analysis of Portuguese chocolate consumers and their perceptions of the artisanal trend

• Autor(a) principal: Mendonça, Maria Margarida Correia Matos Carmona
• Data de Publicação: 2018
• Tipo de documento: Dissertação
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Científico de Acesso Aberto de Portugal (Repositórios Cientìficos)
• Texto Completo: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.14/25620
• topic: Artisanal; Chocolate; Perception; Consumer; Artesanal; Portugal; Percepção; Consumidor; Domínio/Área Científica::Ciências Sociais::Economia e Gestão

The goal of this thesis is to provide a perspective of the recent artisanal trend of artisanal chocolate in Portugal. It specifically aims to analyze who the Portuguese consumers are and understand the differences between those who choose artisanal chocolate and those who choose not to. In this study, an overview of the chocolate market was performed, with a particular emphasis on Portuguese artisanal brands. The methodology consisted of a qualitative and quantitative study. The former used in-depth interviews with chocolate consumers and artisanal producers. The latter was supported by a questionnaire distributed to 130 respondents. The main conclusion of this thesis is that artisanal chocolate perception among consumers and non-consumers is similar across four dimensions: ‘healthy product’, ‘unique product’, ‘product that conveys love’ and ‘ingredient quality’. The key differences are in price and availability perception, as non-consumers believe artisanal chocolate is more expensive and harder to obtain. Nevertheless, this group shows willingness-to-try and a positive perception of artisanal chocolate. These insights help understand consumer behaviour towards artisanal chocolate and may be an important tool for brands to develop future strategies.