On the costs and benefits of using triangles in packaging design

Qi, Yuhong; Spence, Charles; Wan, Xiaoang

doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2019.103719

Cited by 9 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 51 publications

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“…Hence, the question immediately becomes one of whether it is possible to predict the consumer's response to the combination based simply on how they respond to individual abstract visual cues, such as colour or shape/form . The limited evidence that has been published to date certainly suggests that while abstract visual design elements that are congruent in terms of their connotative meaning, and/or that are linked by their crossmodal correspondence, are sometimes combined, there are other situations in which a specific configuration of visual design cues takes on a semantic meaning that goes beyond the meaning of the individual cues (Dreksler & Spence, 2019;Matthews et al, 2019;Spence, 2020a;Zhao et al, 2020;and see Velasco et al, 2014a, for a review). It should, of course, further be remembered that visual design cues are but one element of multisensory packaging design.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…attentional-capture when packaging placed in more-or-less realistic shelf display (e.g., Garber et al, 2008;Reutskaja et al, 2011;Van Ooijen et al, 2016;Velasco et al, 2015a;Zhao et al, 2017Zhao et al, , 2020cf. Peng-Li et al, 2020;Sunaga et al, 2016).…”

Section: Assessmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The orientation of abstract visual design features (such as shapes) on product packaging also matters when it comes to communicating with the consumer. For instance, people have been shown to respond very differently to triangles as a function of whether they happen to point upwards or downwards (Zhao et al, 2017(Zhao et al, , 2020. Triangles, or other angular shapes, that pointing downwards/ towards the viewer can trigger a short-lasting neural fear response in the human amygdala (Larson et al, 2007;Watson et al, 2011).…”

Section: When Orientation Biases Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visual communication via the design of food and beverage packaging

Spence

Doorn

2022

Cogn. Research

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A rapidly growing body of empirical research has recently started to emerge highlighting the connotative and/or semiotic meanings that consumers typically associate with specific abstract visual design features, such as colours (either when presented individually or in combination), simple shapes/curvilinearity, and the orientation and relative position of those design elements on product packaging. While certain of our affective responses to such basic visual design features appear almost innate, the majority are likely established via the internalization of the statistical regularities of the food and beverage marketplace (i.e. as a result of associative learning), as in the case of round typeface and sweet-tasting products. Researchers continue to document the wide range of crossmodal correspondences that underpin the links between individual visual packaging design features and specific properties of food and drink products (such as their taste, flavour, or healthfulness), and the ways in which marketers are now capitalizing on such understanding to increase sales. This narrative review highlights the further research that is still needed to establish the connotative or symbolic/semiotic meaning(s) of particular combinations of design features (such as coloured stripes in a specific orientation), as opposed to individual cues in national food markets and also, increasingly, cross-culturally in the case of international brands.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Assessmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: When Orientation Biases Meaningmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Visual communication via the design of food and beverage packaging

Spence

Doorn

2022

Cogn. Research

Self Cite

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“…It has been suggested that downward-pointing angular shapes, such as an inverted triangle, automatically capture people's attention because of a link with brain's fear circuits (Velasco et al, 2015a). This can either be a good or bad thing in the context of food product packaging, depending on the complexity of the search task facing the shopper when scanning the shelves (e.g., Shen et al, 2015;Zhao et al, 2020). In terms of taste correspondences, a downward-pointing triangle may be slightly more likely to be associated with bitterness than a triangle that points up/away from the viewer (cf.…”

Section: Orientation Position and Movementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining Visual Shape–Taste Crossmodal Correspondences

Spence

2023

Multisens. Res.

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A growing body of experimental research now demonstrates that neurologically normal individuals associate different taste qualities with design features such as curvature, symmetry, orientation, texture and movement. The form of everything from the food itself through to the curvature of the plateware on which it happens to be served, and from glassware to typeface, not to mention the shapes of/on food product packaging have all been shown to influence people’s taste expectations, and, on occasion, also their taste/food experiences. Although the origins of shape–taste and other form–taste crossmodal correspondences have yet to be fully worked out, it would appear that shape qualities are occasionally elicited directly. However, more often, there may be a metaphorical attempt to translate the temporal qualities of taste sensations into a spatial analogue. At the same time, emotional mediation may sometimes also play a role in the affinity people experience between shape properties and taste. And finally, it should be acknowledged that associative learning of the relation between packaging shapes, glassware shapes, logos, labels and iconic food forms that commonly co-occur with specific taste properties (i.e., in the case of branded food products) may also play an important role in determining the nature of shape–taste correspondences. Ultimately, however, any attempt to use such shape–taste correspondences to nudge people’s behaviour/perception in the real world is made challenging due to the fact that shape properties are associated with multiple qualities, and not just taste.

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The color–flavor incongruency effect in product evaluation and brand perception

Huang

Wan

2019

J of Consumer Behaviour

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Crossmodal correspondences refer to the tendency to associate a pair of features across different senses; specifically, consumers can associate the color of packaging with a certain flavor label for packaged foods after repeated exposure to the packaging of mainstream, everyday products. We conducted two studies to examine how the incongruency between packaging color and flavor labeling influences consumers' evaluations of a food product and their perceptions of a brand. The results revealed that the participants liked a food product less when its packaging color was incongruent with its flavor label, but the magnitude of this color–flavor incongruency effect decreased after participants repeatedly searched for these products on the shelves of a virtual supermarket. Participants also considered the brand of packaged foods to be more innovative when the products' packaging colors were incongruent with flavor labels, and the magnitude of this color–flavor incongruency effect on brand perception was not influenced by their experience of searching for a product in virtual reality. Together, these results suggested that crossmodal congruency is an important factor to consider in packaging design and can be used as a marketing tool to increase product likability and attract consumers' attention.

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On the costs and benefits of using triangles in packaging design

Cited by 9 publications

References 51 publications

Visual communication via the design of food and beverage packaging

Visual communication via the design of food and beverage packaging

Explaining Visual Shape–Taste Crossmodal Correspondences

The color–flavor incongruency effect in product evaluation and brand perception

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