Projective techniques to study consumer perception of food

In recent decades, projective techniques, a group of qualitative sensory techniques, have emerged as a useful and versatile tool to study consumer needs, beliefs, feelings and motivations. The importance of projective techniques lies in the fact that they lead consumers to express themselves beyond the rational, and allow access to underlying or deep attitudes and emotions, revealing non-conscious or not openly accepted motivations in their buying behavior. The word association technique, in which the person interviewed is asked to write, from a list of words or phrases, the first thing that comes to mind, has been the most applied in the field of food.