Light and Pale Colors in Food Packaging: When Does This Package Cue Signal Superior Healthiness or Inferior Tastiness?

Mai, Robert; Symmank, Claudia; Seeberg-Elverfeldt, Berenike

doi:10.1016/j.jretai.2016.08.002

Cited by 145 publications

(127 citation statements)

References 75 publications

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“…Implicit elements convey meaning based on specific associations that consumers learn over time through exposure to a specific social and cultural context (Labrecque et al, ; Scott & Vargas, ). For example, light colors used on the package can signal product healthfulness (Karnal et al, ; Mai et al, ). Through the consistent use of specific visual design elements for health products, practitioners might actually reinforce and perpetuate health associations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Graphic elements are those printed on the package, offering visual identity to the food product (e.g., colors, imagery, and typeface). These elements manifest through pictorial and stylistic representations and therefore rely on specific metaphors and learned associations to convey meaning (Karnal et al, ; Mai, Symmank, & Seeberg‐Elverfeldt, ; Rahinel & Nelson, ; Sundar & Noseworthy, ). This implicit form of communication also entails that marketers have less control over how the message is decoded by consumers.…”

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Festila

Chrysochou

2018

J of Consumer Behaviour

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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.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Backgroundmentioning

confidence: 99%

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

Festila

Chrysochou

2018

J of Consumer Behaviour

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“…This hypothesis was confirmed in Experiment 1, in line with the study conducted by Rebollar et al (). Therefore, consumers may associate an expected taste to a product due to packaging colour, when they cannot access it through experimentation (Mai, Symmank, & Seeberg‐Elverfeldt, ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Influences of visual attributes of food packaging on consumer preference and associations with taste and healthiness

Rosa

Spence

Tonetto

2018

Int J Consumer Studies

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Two experiments designed to investigate how the shape and colour of packaging, and product category, conjointly impact consumers’ product and packaging expectations are reported. In Experiment 1, the shape (rounded vs. angular) and visual appearance (greyscale, red‐to‐yellow and blue‐to‐green colour schemes) of the packaging were manipulated. Dependent measures were preference (willingness to purchase the product, how attention‐capturing the packaging is, and the pleasantness of the design) and any taste associations. In Experiment 2, shape (rounded vs. angular), colour (red‐to‐yellow vs. blue‐to‐green colour schemes), and product category (buttery vs. cereal cookies) were manipulated. In this case, the dependent measures were the perceived product healthiness and the preference of consumers. The results of Experiment 1 revealed that packaging colour influenced product preference. Red‐to‐yellow and blue‐to‐green colour schemes and angular packaging were preferred over greyscale and round packaging. Colour also influenced taste associations, while shape only influenced ratings of expected sweetness. In Experiment 2, packaging shape and product category influenced product preference. In particular, rounded packaging and the packaging of buttery cookies were preferred over angular packaging and the cereal cookies packaging. The healthiness of the product was rated higher for the rounded and red‐to‐yellow packaging containing a buttery product. Taken together, these results highlight the important role played by colour, shape, and category on the expectations and associations elicited by viewing product packaging.

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“…These expectations can pertain to low-level attributes, like the product's constituents, or to higher-level, overarching expectations related to product quality, for example [7]. Several packaging elements, like color (i.e., hue, saturation, luminance) [8,9], shape [10], material [11], and surface [12] have been addressed in extant research [13]. For example, watered-down or "lighter" colored packages signal that the product inside is healthier; packages with more vibrant colors lead the packaged product to be seen as more attractive [14].…”

Section: Food Package Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Prior research has shown that many different packaging elements serve as extrinsic cues that are informative of the products inside. To date, literature on the effectiveness of packaging elements has focused mostly on elements such as color [9,40], size [41,42], shape [19,43], and their combined influence on the consumer's multisensory product experience [7,17,44]. Packaging surface, in contrast, has received only limited attention.…”

Section: Theoretical and Practical Contributionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fats are Glossy but Does Glossiness Imply Fatness? The Influence of Packaging Glossiness on Food Perceptions

Kerpel

Volles

Kerckhove

2020

Foods

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This research brings together two research streams, one focusing on the influence of a diverse set of packaging attributes (e.g., shape, size, color, etc.) on perceptions of packaged food and the second one on the up- and downsides of using glossy materials, which are often studied in a non-food context. The current research deals with the influence of glossy (versus matte) food packages on consumers’ perceptions of the food inside the package. With one online survey and one quasi-experiment, we show that consumers draw inferences on the food’s fat level from the package surface, in that glossy packages are seen as a signal of fatness. This association is specific; consumers do not associate glossiness with every unhealthy product aspect. Sugar levels are unaffected by the package surface. However, due to the higher inferred fat level, a product in a glossy package is perceived to be less healthy, less tasty, and low in quality and product expensiveness. Thus, these findings suggest that glossy (versus matte) food packages mainly serve as a signal of negative product qualities.

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Light and Pale Colors in Food Packaging: When Does This Package Cue Signal Superior Healthiness or Inferior Tastiness?

Cited by 145 publications

References 75 publications

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

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

Influences of visual attributes of food packaging on consumer preference and associations with taste and healthiness

Fats are Glossy but Does Glossiness Imply Fatness? The Influence of Packaging Glossiness on Food Perceptions

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