The use of an online completion test to reveal important attributes in consumer choice: An empirical study on frozen burgers

- The online use of completion test is proposed to investigate consumer choice.
- An attractive form was developed for an empirical application on frozen burger.
- Relevant food attributes were identified and three price levels were calculated.
- The results of the empirical study were valuable and comparable to secondary data.
- Online completion test was convenient and yielded rich information from consumers.

Consumer behavior surveys in the online environment have been encouraged, but its application needs further investigation. Completion test is a projective technique that can reveal the deepest thoughts and feelings of consumer, and can be used to identify the attributes of a product that they valorize. The main purpose of this study was to discuss the conduction of the completion test in an virtual environment and present an online empirical application. The study focused on consumer choice regarding frozen burger, a widely known product that has gone through innovation. Using as stimuli images of couples in the supermarket with incomplete dialogues, a two-in-one online completion test was carried out with 357 respondents, focusing on the main attributes for consumers at the moment of burger purchase, and in the estimation of a price range through the consumer internal reference. As the results of the empirical study were comparable to secondary data, the online application of the completion test was considered valuable, besides being convenient and capable to yield rich information.