Chocolate Consumption and Purchasing Behaviour Review ...

1 SustainabilityReviewChocolate Consumption and Purchasing BehaviourReview: Research Issues and Insights forFuture ResearchMargherita Del Prete * and Antonella SamoggiaDepartment of Agricultural and Food Sciences and Technologies, University of Bologna, Viale Fanin, 50,40127 Bologna, Italy; 15 June 2020; Accepted: 8 July 2020; Published: 11 July 2020 Abstract: Chocolate is consumed all over the world. Since its origin, it has undergone manytransformations to meet changing market demand. A better understanding of consumer behaviouris a key objective of any business, and so it is for Chocolate businesses. In order to fulfil this aim,the current study presents a systematic literature Review of consumers Consumption and purchasingbehaviour towards cocoa and Chocolate .

2 Two databases have been used to collect the literature:Scopus and Web of Science. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses(PRISMA) flow diagram was used to identify the articles through the process of data screening andextractions. A total of sixty-four scientific articles have been selected. Research topics, methodologicalapproach and data collection method were identified for each article selected. Then, the identifiedtopics were grouped into four categories in order to obtain a model of major determinants in chocolateconsumption: personal preferences, product attributes, socio-demographic factors and economicattributes. Results show that there is a strong focus on Fair Trade in Chocolate .

3 Moreover, the currentliterature Review supports the fact that the price and promotion are under-investigated research represents a valuable tool, especially from a marketing point of view, by creating newchannels and new sales opportunities for Chocolate :cocoa; Chocolate ; consumer Behaviour ; Consumption ; Purchasing ; perceptions; motives;attributes; literature review1. IntroductionChocolate is an accessible luxury [1] that we treat ourselves to for personal gratification [2 6]. It hasundergone a significant transformation since its origins, going from being a simple drink consumed byindigenous people [7] to a specialty main ingredient of Chocolate is cocoa. Over the last 40 years, there has been a discontinuousbut steady growth in cocoa production.

4 Approximately million tonnes of cocoa was producedworldwide during the crop year 1980/81. Almost 5 million tonnes of cocoa were produced in the lastcrop year 2018/19 [8] with million tonnes produced on the Ivory Coast [9], which, together withGhana, covers the demand of 60% of all cocoa used for Chocolate production in the world [10]. Chocolate is consumed all over the world, and the largest Chocolate manufacturers are basedin North America and Europe [11]. Top consumers are the Swiss ( kg/year/per capita), and bottomlevel consumers are the Chinese (100 g per year/per capita) [12]. Chocolate formulation is in constant evolution. The changes aim to meet the evolving demands offood consumers. There is an increasing request for a low-calorie Chocolate without sugar and a veganproduct formulation without animal derivatives [13].

5 However, there is no systematic Review of theSustainability2020,12, 5586; ,12, 55862 of 17literature that reports the results of past studies on cocoa and Chocolate consumer Purchasing andconsumption , the purpose of the present literature Review is consumer Behaviour towards Chocolate Purchasing and Consumption ; what factors influence Chocolate Purchasing and Consumption Behaviour ; the most widely used methods for studying Chocolate consumer Behaviour ; possible gaps in the literature and thus provide insights for future research on chocolateconsumption literature Review provides an overview of the major determinants in Chocolate consumers preferences, perceptions and motivations in Purchasing behaviours allowsus to target a greater number of consumers and thus create new channels and new sales opportunitiesfor Chocolate structure of the paper is as follows.

6 Section 2 provides a description of the search strategyand selection criteria that have been applied to identify the papers for the current literature 3 collects the results divided into the four categories identified. Further areas of research andconclusions are presented in Sections 4 and 5, MethodsIn order to identify, organize and analyse the literature on consumer Purchasing and consumptionbehaviour towards Chocolate and cocoa, a systematic Review [14] of the studies conducted to date hasbeen carried out. The study followed a structured protocol. Figure 1 outlines the research methodand the criteria for selecting relevant articles in the literature. The results of study selection will bepresented based on a PRISMA flow diagram [15].

7 Sustainability 2020, 12, 5586 2 of 18 of the literature that reports the results of past studies on cocoa and Chocolate consumer Purchasing and Consumption Behaviour . Thus, the purpose of the present literature Review is to: 1. Investigate consumer Behaviour towards Chocolate Purchasing and Consumption ; 2. Identify what factors influence Chocolate Purchasing and Consumption Behaviour ; 3. Identify the most widely used methods for studying Chocolate consumer Behaviour ; 4. Suggest possible gaps in the literature and thus provide insights for future research on Chocolate Consumption Behaviour . This literature Review provides an overview of the major determinants in Chocolate Consumption .

8 Understanding consumers preferences, perceptions and motivations in Purchasing behaviours allows us to target a greater number of consumers and thus create new channels and new sales opportunities for Chocolate products. The structure of the paper is as follows. Section 2 provides a description of the search strategy and selection criteria that have been applied to identify the papers for the current literature Review . Section 3 collects the results divided into the four categories identified. Further areas of research and conclusions are presented in Sections 4 and 5, respectively. 2. Methods In order to identify, organize and analyse the literature on consumer Purchasing and Consumption Behaviour towards Chocolate and cocoa, a systematic Review [14] of the studies conducted to date has been carried out.

9 The study followed a structured protocol. Figure 1 outlines the research method and the criteria for selecting relevant articles in the literature. The results of study selection will be presented based on a PRISMA flow diagram [15]. Figure 1. Steps and criteria of literature search and screening process using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram. Note: Wos stands for Web of Science. IdentificationScreeningEligibilityInclud edRecords identified through Scopus database searching(n = 196)Records identified through WoSdatabase searching(n = 221)Records after duplicates removed(n = 287)Full-text articles assessed for eligibility(n = 73)Studies included in qualitative synthesis(n = 64)Articles excluded on the basis of title, abstract and journal because they did not focus on cocoa or Chocolate (n = 214)Full-text articles excluded because they did not focus on consumer Behaviour (n = 9)Figure and criteria of literature search and screening process using the Preferred ReportingItems for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flow diagram.

10 Note: Wos stands for Webof Search StrategyThe research papers have been retrieved through a systematic search of peer-reviewed databases have been used to collect the literature: Scopus and Web of Science. A combination ofsearch terms was used to identify the studies that focused on consumer Purchasing and consumptionSustainability2020,12, 55863 of 17behaviour towards cocoa and Chocolate . The authors identified a search string where four separategroups of words were combined and then applied to both databases (Table 1). The first group ofwords included cocoa OR Chocolate . The aim is to include at least one of the two words identified,including multi-product studies. To ease the reading, the current paper will exclusively refer to theterm Chocolate .