Title: Analysis of consumer purchasing behaviour factors in the process of deciding to buy dark chocolate

Authors: Aleksandra Grofelnik; Tina Vukasović

Addresses: Ministry of Culture, Ljubljana, Slovenia ' Faculty of Management, Koper and International School for Social and Business Studies, Celje, Slovenia

Abstract: The shopping behaviour of consumers has become increasingly complex. Understanding the consumer's behaviour is potentially the key to creating increasingly effective marketing strategies. Consumer purchasing behaviour is a mental and behavioural process influenced by various factors, depending on the product type and the need the consumer wants to satisfy. Master's thesis research has determined the multiple factors that come into play when purchasing dark chocolate and consumers' views of the studied product. Dark chocolate consumers primarily purchase it because of its taste but place great importance on the cocoa content. Positive health benefits are considered necessary, while the product's brand, habit or packaging has no visible influence over the purchase. Consumers place a lot of importance on the information provided on the product's packaging. It is believed that the dark chocolate maker guarantees the quality and safety of the product by providing additional information.

Keywords: consumer behaviour; purchasing decision; brand; innovation; knowledge management; dark chocolate; cocoa.

DOI: 10.1504/IJIL.2024.140873

International Journal of Innovation and Learning, 2024 Vol.36 No.3, pp.263 - 276

Received: 10 Aug 2023
Accepted: 09 Sep 2023
Published online: 03 Sep 2024 *

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