Eating dark chocolate improves the mood of customers and their evaluations about the service or customer experience, new research shows.
Several experiments with a total of almost 400 participants showed that eating dark chocolate improves customers' moods and evaluations of the service, showed research conducted at the universities of UGent and the VUB.
The research shows that it is not just about offering something small to the customers as eating biscuits or milk chocolate did not have the same effect as dark chocolate.
"The great thing about our research is that it makes small traders, retailers, and service providers aware that a small detail such as dark chocolate can make the difference. Moreover, offering a piece of dark chocolate is both feasible and affordable," said researcher Nanouk Verhulst.
"This is especially important for the small self-employed or traders because they are finding it increasingly difficult to attract customers to the physical point of sale and therefore have to get their strength from extra-fine customer experiences," she added.
Maïthé Chini
The Brussels Times
