Implicit communication of food product healthfulness through package design: A content analysis

Abstract

How do food companies use package design to communicate healthfulness? The present study addresses this question by investigating the most typical implicit package design elements used by food companies for their health‐positioned food products. Using a content analysis on the packaging design of 12 food product categories across two countries (Denmark and the United States), our findings indicate that (a) implicit package design elements (colors, imagery, material, and shape) differ between health‐positioned and regular products, and (b) these differences are product category specific rather than universal. Our results contribute to knowledge on how package design is used as a health communication tool.

Packaging design elements and consumers' decision to buy from the Web: A cause and effect decision‐making model

“…Packaging is integral to the “Four Ps” in the “marketing mix” concept and is a promotional tool for products and brands alike . Packaging consist of both structural (eg, packaging material, shape, size, weight, and texture, and graphic features) and verbal design features that are placed on the product (such as textal information) . Silayoi et al stated that “packaging represents the salesman on the shelf.” In addition, Clement describes product packaging as a means of attracting consumers' attention to the brand or the product.…”

“…Adam et al and Freire el al found that nutritional information displayed on packaging has a very important role here. This is because consumers have become more health conscious and are now gravitating toward the nutritional values displayed on the product package, especially in terms of natural and organic products. In their study, they found that the implicit message communicated by structural packaging elements differs between health‐positioned and regular products.…”

Recognizing Decision-Making Using Eye Movement: A Case Study With Children

“…These two results reveal information that supports how the children were able to determine their choice of which toys were most liked. The material was a design dimension that caught their attention (Kwon et al, 2002;Lin, 2010;Festila and Chrysochou, 2018) and how boys need to visit more times than girls to do a decision-making. The results obtained using the traditional methods of icons and toys assessment were enhanced with the use of the data extracted from eye movement.…”

“…These three attributes give a complete "object representation" leading to more complex cognitive processes, giving us the ability to understand the visual elements. Through form, texture, objects, color, and intensities, a familiar stimulus to children could stand out and serve as an attraction to attractor the consumer's attention (Kwon et al, 2002;Luo, 2006;Lin, 2010;Festila and Chrysochou, 2018). Specifically, color plays a fundamental role as a factor of aesthetic attractiveness to everybody, from a perceptual aspect (Helo et al, 2014) to the emotional aspect (Green-Armytage, 2006).…”

Happy Hens or Healthy Eggs: A Content Analysis of Supermarket Egg Box Graphics.

“…Only unprocessed hen egg products were taken for further analysis. Images of the egg boxes were saved and subjected to content analysis, similar to previously applied to organic and health-food packaging [20,21]. All 50 eggboxes examined displayed at least one explicit written message, such as "a good source or omega-3", "from free-range hens", or "great taste" (Table 1).…”