Food indulgence has been widely studied in psychology and related sciences. However, 19 how it is perceived by consumers has rarely been examined in the field of Food 20Science. This paper presents a case study with 17 different types of cookies. Two 21 different exploratory studies were performed with two groups of consumers. In the 22 first, 90 consumers performed projective mappings, placing the samples according to 23 the similarities or differences they found a) based on the packaging alone and b) based 24 on tasting alone (the tasks were performed one month apart). The consumers were 25 also asked to describe the single packages/cookies and groups of packages/cookies on 26 the map. The maps obtained from the packaging and tasting tasks were fairly similar, 27indicating that in general the images, information, and package design raised 28 expectations that were confirmed upon tasting the cookies. Qualitative analysis of the 29 terms used to describe the maps of the two scenarios showed that chocolate (dark or 30 milk) and type of cookie were the principal classification factors, while less or no 31 importance was placed on energy content or uses. Consequently, in the second study 8 32 of the initial 17 cookies were selected as representing the 8 cookie types detected 33 through separate hierarchical clustering analyses of the results from the package and 34 cookie scenarios. A group of 100 consumers tasted each type of cookie, scored them 35 on "acceptability," "perceived healthiness," and "familiarity," and answered a CATA 36 questionnaire listing eating motivations and occasions. 37 38 39 40
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