Understanding consumers’ perception of conventional and functional yogurts using word association and hard laddering

Consumers’ perceptions of conventional (regular plain yogurt, low-calorie and low-fat yogurt) and functional yogurts (enriched with fibre and antioxidants) were studied using word association and hard laddering. Both methodologies provided similar results, being consumers’ perceptions of these products mainly related to health, nutrition, sensory characteristics and pleasure. However, both methodologies provided different information. Word association provided information about attributes that were relevant for consumers’ acceptance of a product, common defects of products in the marketplace, motives behind consumers’ choice and attributes that might limit consumers’ interest in the product. On the other hand, hard laddering allowed the identification of more consequences and values related to product attributes, and the links between them, which could be useful for understanding consumers’ choices. Besides, word association was more sensitive than hard laddering in determining differences between groups of consumers with different attitudes towards health and nutrition. Results suggested that word association might be an interesting and useful qualitative technique for product development.