Predictive packaging design: Tasting shapes, typefaces, names, and sounds

US Consumers' Awareness, Purchase Intent, and Willingness to Pay for Packaging That Reduces Household Food Waste

Food waste is a barrier to the development of sustainable food systems, and a large portion of it occurs at the household level. Household food waste can be decreased by using appropriate packaging. Despite the high rate of food waste in US households, little is known about how packaging affects this. This study assessed US consumers' awareness of how structural packaging designs and technologies affect food freshness and their willingness to purchase and to pay extra for packaging designed to reduce household food waste. To gather data, 1000 US consumers were surveyed online. Responses were analyzed overall and by population segments. The impacts of only 3 out of 15 structural packaging designs on maintaining food freshness were known by >50% of consumers. Regarding packaging technologies, while 78% of consumers knew about the impact of vacuum packaging on maintaining food freshness, just 27.6, 23, and 16% knew how modified atmosphere packaging, active packaging, and aseptic packaging affected food freshness. Only 32% of consumers knew that intelligent packaging provides information on food freshness. Just 9% of consumers recognized that foods in plastic pouches and cans possess the same food freshness. Approximately 91% of consumers will always/sometimes buy food in most of the above packaging technologies after learning about them. Half were willing to pay more for food in packages that reduce household food waste, and 40% may. Differences (p ≤ 0.05) and two-way interactions were observed between population segments. This study's findings can help develop new packaging, education campaigns, and policies to reduce household food waste in the US.

The Influence of Packaging Color on Consumer Perceptions of Healthfulness: A Systematic Review and Theoretical Framework

When consumers evaluate a new product, packaging design plays a critical role. In particular, packaging color is a dominant design cue that influences consumer perception of a product. Several studies have investigated the influence of color on taste. However, there is limited research on the influence of packaging color on consumer health perception. As healthy eating is a focus for many consumers and public decision-makers, more knowledge is needed. The aim of this review is to provide an overview of empirical studies that have investigated the influence of packaging color on consumers' health perceptions and to provide a psychological explanation for the observed effects. The systematic review includes 20 empirical studies across different product groups. The results show that packaging color influences consumers' health perceptions. We argue that the influence of packaging color on consumer health perceptions can be explained by the following mechanisms, which are not mutually exclusive: (1) consumers rely on a color as an explicit signal for health; (2) colors are associated with beliefs that indirectly influence health assessments; and (3) colors trigger mental simulations that influence health assessments. In addition, we provide suggestions for further research that will contribute to a better understanding of when and how packaging color can help consumers make healthier food choices.

Influence of letter shape on readers' emotional experience, reading fluency, and text comprehension and memorisation

Introduction

The amount of educational material delivered to pupils and students through digital screens is increasing. This method of delivering educational materials has become even more prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic. To be as effective as possible, educational material must be properly designed not only in terms of content, but also in terms of form, e.g., the typeface. The present study investigated the effect of letter shape on readers' feelings of pleasantness during reading, reading fluency, and text comprehension and memorisation.

Methods

To find out whether age influences the effects of typeface shape on reading measures, we divided the participants into a group of less experienced readers (children) and more experienced readers (adults). Both groups read texts in eight different typefaces: four of them were round or in rounded shape, and four were angular or in pointed shape. With an eye-tracker, the reading speed and the number of regressive saccades were recorded as measures of reading fluency and changes in pupil size as an indicator of emotional response. After reading each text, the participants rated the pleasantness of the typeface, and their comprehension and memorisation of texts were checked by asking two questions about the text content.

Results

We found that compared to angular letters or letters in pointed shape, round letters or letters in round shape created more pleasant feelings for readers and lead to a faster reading speed. Children, as expected, read more slowly due to less reading experiences, but, interestingly, had a similar number of regressive saccades and did not comprehend or remember the text worse than university students.

Discussion

We concluded that softer typefaces of rounder shapes should be used in educational materials, as they make the reading process easier and thus support the learning process better for both younger and adult readers. The results of our study also showed that a comparison of findings of different studies may depend on the differences among the used letter shapes.

Crossmodal correspondences between basic tastes and visual design features: A narrative historical review

People tend to associate abstract visual features with basic taste qualities. This narrative historical review critically evaluates the literature on these associations, often referred to as crossmodal correspondences, between basic tastes and visual design features such as color hue and shape curvilinearity. The patterns, discrepancies, and evolution in the development of the research are highlighted while the mappings that have been reported to date are summarized. The review also reflects on issues of cross-cultural validity and deviations in the matching patterns that are observed when correspondences are assessed with actual tastants versus with verbal stimuli. The various theories that have been proposed to account for different classes of crossmodal correspondence are discussed, among which the statistical and affective (or emotional-mediation) accounts currently appear most promising. Several critical research questions for the future are presented to address the gaps that have been identified in the literature and help validate the popular theories on the origin and operations of visual-taste correspondences.

The Value of Semantics in Food and Wine Labeling: Research on Italian Wine Consumers

Semantics studies have been experiencing an ever-growing utilization and application in packaging, product labeling and, more broadly, in marketing strategies. Considering the food and wine sector, existing research on semantics application in labeling confirms its worth in influencing consumers’ perception of products. In this sense, it is a fundamental tool for managers to communicate the value of their brands. Nevertheless, further studies are still needed to understand how the visual aspects of the packaging generate the desired meanings among consumers, especially in Italy. The paper intends to fill this gap by applying a semiotic approach to study Italian wine consumers. Specifically, a close-ended questionnaire, with a free word association segment focused on the values perceived by consumers when looking at four digitally crafted wine bottle front labels, was utilized. Although the results show some discrepancies from current studies, this paper points out that the existing literature on the topic seems comprehensively applicable to Italian consumers. However, given the exploratory nature of the study, it would be necessary to extend the number of respondents to further validate the results obtained.

How Food Shape Influences Calorie Content Estimation: The Biasing Estimation of Calories

Whether for improving health or keeping in shape, consumers are beginning to pay attention to calorie intake. However, although a growing number of studies have focused on the impact of food attributes on consumers, the sensory correspondence between food shape and calorie estimation is an underresearched topic. This review, therefore, reports on three studies investigating the effect of food shape on calorie content estimation, whereby participants perceived food in a square shape to have a higher calorie content than food in a circular shape. Perceived food weight plays a mediating role in the relationship between food shape and calorie estimation. Moreover, the more mindful participants were about calorie intake, the weaker the mediation effect of perceived weight. Conversely, the mediation effect of perceived weight was stronger for people who did not care about their calorie intake. These findings break novel ground by presenting food shape as a relevant factor for calorie content estimation. It not only pays attention to the information brought by the visual sense of food, but also complements the relevant literature in the field of food marketing, and has implications for marketing management.

Visual communication via the design of food and beverage packaging

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.

Promoting Healthier Drinking Habits: Using Sound to Encourage the Choice for Non-Alcoholic Beers in E-Commerce

Important institutions, such as the World Health Organization, recommend reducing alcohol consumption by encouraging healthier drinking habits. This could be achieved, for example, by employing more effective promotion of non-alcoholic beverages. For such purposes, in this study, we assessed the role of experiential beer packaging sounds during the e-commerce experience of a non-alcoholic beer (NAB). Here, we designed two experiments. Experiment 1 evaluated the influence of different experiential beer packaging sounds on consumers' general emotions and sensory expectations. Experiment 2 assessed how the sounds that evoked more positive results in Experiment 1 would influence emotions and sensory expectations related to a NAB digital image. The obtained results revealed that a beer bottle pouring sound helped suppress some of the negativity that is commonly associated with the experience of a NAB. Based on such findings, brands and organizations interested in more effectively promoting NAB may feel encouraged to involve beer packaging sounds as part of their virtual shopping environments.

Application of Augmented Reality in the Sensory Evaluation of Yogurts

Augmented reality (AR) applications in the food industry are considered innovative to enrich the interactions among consumers, food products, and context. The study aimed to investigate the effects of AR environments on the sensory responses of consumers towards different yogurts. AR HoloLens headsets were used to set up two AR environments: (1) AR coconut view (ARC) and (2) AR dairy view (ARD). Hedonic ratings, just-about-right (JAR), check-all-that-apply (CATA) attribute terms, emotional responses, purchase intent, and consumer purchasing behaviors of three types of yogurts (dairy-free coconut, dairy, and mixed) were measured under ARC, ARD, and sensory booths (SB). The results showed that the liking scores of dairy and mixed yogurts were generally higher than the coconut yogurt regardless of the environment. The interaction effect of yogurts and environments was statistically significant in terms of appearance, taste/flavor, sweetness, mouthfeel, aftertaste, and overall liking. JAR and penalty analysis revealed that consumers penalized the coconut yogurt for being “too much” in sourness, “too little” in sweetness, and “too thin” in mouthfeel. For the CATA analysis, attribute terms positively associated with overall liking (such as “sweet”, “smooth”, and “creamy”) were selected for dairy and mixed yogurts, whereas the attribute terms negatively associated with overall liking (such as “firm”, “heavy”, and “astringent”) were only selected for coconut yogurts. Regarding yogurt-consumption behaviors, the purchase intent of dairy and mixed yogurts was higher than that of the coconut yogurt, and taste and health were considered to be the most critical factors for yogurt consumption.

Toward Healthier Cookie Habits: Assessing the Role of Packaging Visual Appearance in the Expectations for Dietary Cookies in Digital Environments

As we tend to consume more and more via e-commerce platforms, the digital version of a dietary product's package can be one of the most important touchpoints that the consumer has with such product during the purchasing stage of the consumer's journey. Hence, a dietary food/drink properly presented via its packaging in e-commerce is key, for example, to nudge consumers toward healthier purchase habits. In this study, we assessed the role of different configurations of visual cues commonly present in a product's packaging (jar vs. bag, transparent vs. opaque, labeled vs. unlabeled) in the expectations associated with dietary cookies when presented in a digital environment. A between-participants study was conducted where eight different packages with different combinations of the three aforementioned features were digitally evaluated by the participants. The results suggest that the presence (vs. absence) of labeling triggered the highest ratings on most assessed dimensions (product quality, healthiness, lightness, sweetness, crumbliness, price, tastiness, greediness for product, product/packaging liking). Moreover, transparent (vs. opaque) packaging tends to yield higher expectations concerning this product's quality (i.e., product liking, package liking, greediness), though it has an opposite effect on the expected healthiness for such cookies. Some particular interactions between these three visual cues were also observed and are discussed as part of the obtained results. In summary, our results point to how the visual appearance of packaging can be strategically used in order to potentially nudge consumers toward healthier cookie purchase habits.

Investigating salience strategies to counteract obesity

The investigation of the characteristics and attributes that make a brand prominent for shoppers is known as salience research. This line of study concentrates on influencing buying behaviors via the manipulation of shopping environments and food products. Such promotional strategies successfully attract massive food sales and therefore have been associated with changes in dietary patterns and the epidemic expansion of non-communicable diseases, like obesity. Marketers have empirically proven that global buying patterns are influenced by their salience strategies and techniques. However, despite the significance of such methods, empirical salience investigations have rarely been extended beyond their primary business focus to the field of health promotion. Therefore, this study is presenting a way of transferring the salience knowledge to the health promotion field in order to track dietary choices and possibly gain information to identify buying and eating behaviors connected to obesity. The salience literature from various disciplines permits to hypothesize that consumers are more likely to have unhealthy diets when food-choices and conditions are saliently manipulated. A quasi-experimental method (combining salience measures with Bayesian analysis) was used to test this proposition. The results support the hypothesis and endorse the introduced research tool. As predicted, data reflect the latest national overweight and obesity statistics and suggest that habitual unhealthy diets are more likely when salience strategies link food products to taste, social and emotional attributes. These preliminary findings encourage further investigation to enhance the method as a possible epidemiological tool.

Effect of Geographical Indication Information on Consumer Acceptability of Cooked Aromatic Rice

Geographical indication (GI) labeling is used to represent information about specific geographical origins of target products. This study aimed at determining the impact of GI information on sensory perception and acceptance of cooked aromatic rice samples. Ninety-nine participants evaluated cooked rice samples prepared using each of three aromatic rice varieties both with and without being provided with GI information. Participants rated the acceptance and intensity of the cooked rice samples in terms of appearance, aroma, flavor, texture, and overall liking, and also reported how important the GI information was to them. The results showed that consumers rated the cooked rice samples higher in appearance and overall liking when provided with GI information. Interestingly, participants who valued “state-of-origin” information more highly exhibited increased hedonic ratings of cooked rice samples when provided with GI information, but not when no GI information was given. Participants provided with GI information rated flavor or sweetness intensities of cooked aromatic rice samples closer to just-about-right than those without such information. This study provides empirical evidence about how GI information modulates sensory perception and acceptance of cooked aromatic rice samples. The findings will help rice industry, farmers, and traders better employ GI labeling to increase consumer acceptability of their rice products.

Affect-Aware Word Clouds

Word clouds are widely used for non-analytic purposes, such as introducing a topic to students, or creating a gift with personally meaningful text. Surveys show that users prefer tools that yield word clouds with a stronger emotional impact. Fonts and color palettes are powerful typographical signals that may determine this impact. Typically, these signals are assigned randomly, or expected to be chosen by the users. We present an affect-aware font and color palette selection methodology that aims to facilitate more informed choices. We infer associations of fonts with a set of eight affects, and evaluate the resulting data in a series of user studies both on individual words as well as in word clouds. Relying on a recent study to procure affective color palettes, we carry out a similar user study to understand the impact of color choices on word clouds. Our findings suggest that both fonts and color palettes are powerful tools contributing to the affects evoked by a word cloud. The experiments further confirm that the novel datasets we propose are successful in enabling this. We also find that, for the majority of the affects, both signals need to be congruent to create a stronger impact. Based on this data, we implement a prototype that allows users to specify a desired affect and recommends congruent fonts and color palettes for the word.

Visual Design Cues Impacting Food Choice: A Review and Future Research Agenda

This review aims to tackle the challenge of understanding how visual design cues can affect behavioural outcomes in a food context. The review answers two key questions: (1) What are the effects of the most important visual design cues on behavioural outcomes and how can they be explained? (2) What are the research gaps in this area? We start from a comprehensive taxonomy of visual design cues delineating the most important visual design cues. Next, we evaluate the extant research based on a structured, narrative literature review on visual design cues in the food domain. We differentiate between object processed and spatially processed visual design cues in food choice contexts and show how they affect behavioural outcomes through a range of psychological processes (attention, affective-, cognitive- and motivational reactions, food perceptions and attitudes). We end with recommendations which take into account the current food store context, the state-of-art in measuring psychological processes and behavioural outcomes and the specific food-, person- and context-related moderators. This review offers guidance for research to untangle the complexity of the effect of visual design cues in a food choice context.

An Adaptive Machine Learning Methodology Applied to Neuromarketing Analysis: Prediction of Consumer Behaviour Regarding the Key Elements of the Packaging Design of an Educational Toy

This research is in response to the question of which aspects of package design are more relevant to consumers, when purchasing educational toys. Neuromarketing techniques are used, and we propose a methodology for predicting which areas attract the attention of potential customers. The aim of the present study was to propose a model that optimizes the communication design of educational toys’ packaging. The data extracted from the experiments was studied using new analytical models, based on machine learning techniques, to predict which area of packaging is observed in the first instance and which areas are never the focus of attention of potential customers. The results suggest that the most important elements are the graphic details of the packaging and the methodology fully analyzes and segments these areas, according to social circumstance and which consumer type is observing the packaging.

The effect of an image of watchful eyes on the evaluation of the appearance of food

It is known that an eye-like image promotes generosity. It is also known that the evaluation of the visual deliciousness of food is improved in the presence of an emotionally positive stimulus. The purpose of the present study was to examine whether the presence of open eyes (OPEN) causes generous behavior altering the evaluation of the visual deliciousness of food, and how the images of open and closed eyes (CLOSED) affect human emotions. Seventeen women participated in the present study. A picture of food was presented on a computer screen, and the participants predicted and evaluated its visual deliciousness. An image of OPEN or that of CLOSED was presented simultaneously with a picture of food. There was a significant difference between the OPEN and CLOSED conditions, as demonstrated by the scores on a nine-point Likert scale for visual deliciousness; the ratings in the OPEN condition were significantly higher than those in the CLOSED condition (p = 0.004). There was no significant difference in the image of watchful eyes for the perceived relaxation state; the ratings in the OPEN condition were not significantly higher than those in the CLOSED condition (p = 0.716). The results of the present study revealed that the evaluation of the visual deliciousness of food based on its appearance was likely due to the presence of an image of open watchful eyes, increasing the perceived visual deliciousness of the food without any changes in the participants’ emotions.

Influence of packaging attributes on perception of juice: Eye-tracking study

Today, consumers are increasingly aware of the impact that the fast and stressful way of life has on their health. They focus not only on physical activity, but also on a diet filled with fruits and vegetables. As a result, they often choose a tasty alternative which is one of the main sources of vitamins and nutrients - fruit juices. However, these products are often labeled as drinks with high amounts of sugar. Therefore, it is very important for these drinks to be perceived by the consumers as healthy and tasty, which is one of the most important features of their packages. Their goal is to appeal to customers, catch their attention and make them buy the product. One of the most convenient methods to study how packages appeal to customers is the eye-tracking method. The aim of this article is to find out how different attributes of packages can influence customers’ perception of the juice. The research was carried out in a form of eye-tracking experiment (A/B testing), which involved 38 participants at the age from 20 to 29 (generation Y). Results showed that lower color saturation significantly reduces the attention of individual packages and also reduces the influence of craving the juice as opposed to brighter colors. The importance of information on the back side was also confirmed, since moving the information from back to the front side did not show any significant decrease of the back side's attention span. Last but not least, it has been found out that the image type used on the orange juice package holds importance too, since photography of oranges led to a higher craving of the juice in comparison to the illustration of oranges. However, it was not proven that photographs of oranges held a higher attention span compared to the illustrations. The article contains demonstrable proof of individual package attributes' influence on how generation Y consumers perceive the juice.

Assessing the Influence of Visual-Taste Congruency on Perceived Sweetness and Product Liking in Immersive VR

This study was designed to assess whether the combined effect of taste-congruent and incongruent extrinsic visual cues presented in virtual reality (VR) influences the perception of sweetness and product liking. Three VR environments (sweet-congruent, sweet-incongruent, and neutral) were created based on the evidence in existing literature. Participants tasted the same beverage in three VR environments and evaluated the environment and beverage liking, as well as perceived taste intensity (sweetness, sourness, and bitterness), congruency, comfort, and environment vividness. Frontal EEG alpha asymmetry (FAA) was also recorded as a complementary physiological measurement of overall liking. The results showed that the perceived sweetness of the beverage was significantly elevated in a sweet-congruent environment versus the other environments. Visual-taste congruency did not seem to have an effect on beverage liking and overall liking, whereas an increase in environment liking was found in the incongruent environment versus the other environments. These findings confirmed the significant influence of taste-specific visual cues on flavour perception, while the successful use of VR in the study provided insight into future applications of taste-specific VR environment in the modulation of flavour perception and sugar reduction.

The Role of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Sensory Factors in Sweetness Perception of Food and Beverages: A Review

When it comes to eating and drinking, multiple factors from diverse sensory modalities have been shown to influence multisensory flavour perception and liking. These factors have heretofore been strictly divided into either those that are intrinsic to the food itself (e.g., food colour, aroma, texture), or those that are extrinsic to it (e.g., related to the packaging, receptacle or external environment). Given the obvious public health need for sugar reduction, the present review aims to compare the relative influences of product-intrinsic and product-extrinsic factors on the perception of sweetness. Evidence of intrinsic and extrinsic sensory influences on sweetness are reviewed. Thereafter, we take a cognitive neuroscience perspective and evaluate how differences may occur in the way that food-intrinsic and extrinsic information become integrated with sweetness perception. Based on recent neuroscientific evidence, we propose a new framework of multisensory flavour integration focusing not on the food-intrinsic/extrinsic divide, but rather on whether the sensory information is perceived to originate from within or outside the body. This framework leads to a discussion on the combinability of intrinsic and extrinsic influences, where we refer to some existing examples and address potential theoretical limitations. To conclude, we provide recommendations to those in the food industry and propose directions for future research relating to the need for long-term studies and understanding of individual differences.

The Allocation of Valenced Percepts Onto 3D Space

Research on the metaphorical mapping of valenced concepts onto space indicates that positive, neutral, and negative concepts are mapped onto upward, midward, and downward locations, respectively. More recently, this type of research has been tested for the very first time in 3D physical space. The findings corroborate the mapping of valenced concepts onto the vertical space as described above but further show that positive and negative concepts are placed close to and away from the body; neutral concepts are placed midway. The current study aimed at investigating whether valenced perceptual stimuli are positioned onto 3D space akin to the way valenced concepts are positioned. By using a unique device known as the cognition cube, participants placed visual, auditory, tactile and olfactory stimuli on 3D space. The results mimicked the placing of valenced concepts onto 3D space; i.e., positive percepts were placed in upward and close-to-the-body locations and negative percepts were placed in downward and away-from-the-body locations; neutral percepts were placed midway. These pattern of results was more pronounced in the case of visual stimuli, followed by auditory, tactile, and olfactory stimuli. Significance Statement Just recently, a unique device called "the cognition cube" (CC) enabled to find that positive words are mapped onto upward and close-to-the-body locations and negative words are mapped onto downward and away-from-the-body locations; neutral words are placed midway. This way of placing words in relation to the body is consistent with an approach-avoidance effect such that "good" and "bad" things are kept close to and away from one's body. We demonstrate for the very first time that this same pattern emerges when visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory perceptual stimuli are placed on 3D physical space. We believe these results are significant in that the CC can be used as a new tool to diagnose emotion-related disorders.

Association of attitudes towards genetically modified food among young adults and their referent persons

Most research on consumer attitudes does not consider that attitudes are likely influenced by people with whom we have some relationship even though socioeconomic, psychological and political theories recognize the importance of referent individuals’ opinions in attitude formation. Knowledge on the role of referent individuals’ opinions in attitude formation could improve the understanding of consumer acceptance of foods frequently associated with health or other concerns. This article examines the association of attitudes towards genetically modified (GM) crops and foods between young adults and their referent individuals using data collected in 2016 via surveys from the Czech Republic, Russia and Ukraine. Loglinear models of cell counts in contingency tables reveal a positive association of GM food attitudes between young adults and their referent individuals. This association was stronger in Russia and the Czech Republic than it was in Ukraine and stronger between female young adults and their referent individuals than between males and their referent individuals. Concordance in GM food attitudes with mothers is significantly stronger than concordance with best friends but not significantly different from concordance with fathers.

A Sweet Voice: The Influence of Cross-Modal Correspondences Between Taste and Vocal Pitch on Advertising Effectiveness

We have seen a rapid growth of interest in cross-modal correspondences between sound and taste over recent years. People consistently associate higher-pitched sounds with sweet/sour foods, while lower-pitched sounds tend to be associated with bitter foods. The human voice is key in broadcast advertising, and the role of voice in communication generally is partly characterized by acoustic parameters of pitch. However, it remains unknown whether voice pitch and taste interactively influence consumer behavior. Since consumers prefer congruent sensory information, it is plausible that voice pitch and taste interactively influence consumers’ responses to advertising stimuli. Based on the cross-modal correspondence phenomenon, this study aimed to elucidate the role played by voice pitch–taste correspondences in advertising effectiveness. Participants listened to voiceover advertisements (at a higher or lower pitch than the original narrator’s voice) for three food products with distinct tastes (sweet, sour, and bitter) and rated their buying intention (an indicator of advertising effectiveness). The results show that the participants were likely to exhibit greater buying intention toward both sweet and sour food when they listened to higher-pitched (vs lower-pitched) voiceover advertisements. The influence of a higher pitch on sweet and sour food preferences was observed in only two of the three studies: studies 1 and 2 for sour food, and studies 2 and 3 for sweet food. These findings emphasize the role that voice pitch–taste correspondence plays in preference formation, and advance the applicability of cross-modal correspondences to business.

"Seeing What's Left": The Effect of Position of Transparent Windows on Product Evaluation

The position of design elements on product packaging has been shown to exert a measurable impact on consumer perception across a number of different studies and product categories. Design elements previously found to influence the consumer through their positioning on the front of pack include product imagery, brand logos, text-based claims, and basic shapes. However, as yet, no empirical research has focused specifically on the relative position of transparent windows; despite the latter being an increasingly prevalent element of many modern packaging designs. This exploratory online study details an experimental investigation of how manipulating the position of a transparent window on a range of visually-presented, novel packaging designs influences consumer evaluations and judgements of the product seen within. Specifically, 110 participants rated 24 different packaging designs (across four product categories: granola, boxed chocolates, pasta, and lemon mousse; each with six window positions: in one of the four quadrants, the top half, or the bottom half) in a within-participants experimental design. Analyses were conducted using Friedman's tests and Hochberg procedure-adjusted Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Tests. Window position was found to be a non-trivial element of design, with a general preference for windows on the right-hand side being evidenced. Significantly higher scores for expected product tastiness and design attractiveness were consistently identified across all product categories when windows were positioned on the right- vs. left-hand side of the packaging. Effects on the perception of powerfulness, overall liking, quality, and willingness to purchase were identified, but were inconsistent across the different product categories. Very few effects of window verticality were identified, with expected weight of the product not being significantly influenced by window position. The implications of these findings for academics, designers, and brand managers are discussed, with future research directions highlighted.