Product personality profiling in food research: A critical review of applications, methodological designs, and interpretative scope

Product Personality Profiling (PPP) is a projective consumer research method in which participants imagine a product as a person and describe it using human characteristics such as age, gender, lifestyle, diet, and personality traits. PPP enables access to symbolic and identity-related meanings that are difficult to capture through direct questioning. However, its application in food science is recent and remains poorly systematized. This review critically examines the application of PPP in food research, focusing on experimental design, response formats, category construction, and data analysis strategies. A structured search in Scopus, Web of Science, and ScienceDirect was performed, and four empirical food studies were included in a critical-interpretative synthesis following screening. The integration with complementary methods, such as the Food Choice Questionnaire, Word Association, and Shopping List tasks, is evaluated to strengthen interpretative robustness and avoid conflating symbolic projection with declared behavior. PPP consistently differentiates products based on perceived target consumers, health orientation, ethical positioning, and lifestyle stereotypes, even when sensory differences are minimal. PPP is particularly sensitive to label cues and ingredient-related information, underscoring its relevance for clean-label and reformulation contexts. Nevertheless, existing applications exhibit substantial methodological heterogeneity, including inconsistent subcategory definitions and limited justification of sample size. PPP should be considered a complementary interpretative method rather than a substitute for classical sensory approaches. This review proposes operational reporting and validation benchmarks to support methodological consolidation and highlights PPP's relevance for identity-driven segmentation and clean-label innovation. • First critical synthesis of Product Personality Profiling (PPP) applications in food research. • PPP differentiates foods by target consumers, health, ethics, and lifestyle cues. • PPP is sensitive to label cues and ingredient-related information. • Stimuli type, response formats, and analytical strategies are key factors. • Guidelines are proposed to support the consolidation of PPP in food consumer research.