Conversely, in the completion techniques each stimulus
guided respondents to mention certain kind of characteristics
of the product, thus, addressing to a lower number of
categories identified in each dialogue. Most of the categories
mentioned by consumers in the completion task were also
elicited in the word association task, and, therefore, it might
seem that word association was the methodology that provided
more information. However, the relevance of each category
must be also considered. In word association task,
only positive characteristics of cheese packaging were mentioned,
while in the completion task the dialogues intended
the consumers to mention positive or negative characteristics.
This fact suggests that the completion methodologies
combined with pictures might have generated a greater projection
of consumers’ innermost feelings and thoughts, as
the stimuli guided participants to focus on different aspects
to allow the externalization of their perceptions.