Efectos del packaging en la percepción sensorial gustativa de barras de chocolate negro en consumidores centennials de 16 a 18 años de la ciudad de Cuenca

Abstract

Currently, packaging is one of the most significant marketing tools, beyond protecting and making the product functional; its role is linked to becoming a psychological attraction that can influence the consumer's perceptual process. For this reason, the food industry is increasingly focused on knowing the effect of packaging on consumer’s sensory issues, in order to improve its development and management. This article addresses this issue by investigating the effect that packaging generates on sensory taste perceptions of Centennials aged 16 to 18, which result from tasting dark chocolate bars. The research is structured in a quasi-experimental design, where a sensory evaluation survey is applied to both an experimental and a control group. Each one of groups are composed of 312 teens. The experimentation uses two different packaging treatments with the same chocolate. As a result, the sensory taste perceptions differ significantly; the statistical analysis that are applied ANOVA of Friedman and ANOVA of Kruskal-Wallis test. Additionally, Chi square test and Spearman coefficient are applied, which establish there is a type of association between the different packaging and taste sensory perception, also a possible relation between the packaging and basic taste sweet and bitter is assumed. Another interesting fact is the existence of a positive correlation between liking towards the packaging design and liking towards taste sensation. Finally, the study shows how centennial consumer gives meaning to their packaging perceptions through adjectives and how packaging elements generate different impact on consumer.