An exploratory study using graphic design to communicate consumer benefits on food packaging

Hendrik N.J Schifferstein,Mailin Lemke,Alie De Boer

doi:10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104458

Hendrik N.J Schifferstein, Mailin Lemke + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2021.104458

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Abstract

Commercial food packages may contain multiple messages. Packaging designers try to integrate all messages into a coherent design. Designers may use text, images or stylistic features, but these mediums may differ in their suitability to communicate specific product benefits. To evaluate the usefulness and effectiveness of these three mediums, we not only obtained consumer evaluations of packaging designs, but we also monitored the designer’s experience during the design process.For three products (orange juice, muesli bar, plain yogurt) we created three consistent packaging designs communicating a single benefit through all three mediums, which was either a [1] health, [2] environmental, or [3] production, sensory or social claim. Subsequently, we developed inconsistent packages communicating three different messages through the three mediums. In an online survey, each of the 18 package variants was evaluated by 59–92 participants.Dummy regression analysis suggested that verbal claims had positive effects in communicating healthiness and environmental friendliness but elicited a negative tendency for sensory properties. The images we used indicated a positive effect for communicating worker conditions, but a negative effect for healthiness. Our stylistic elements suggested a positive effect for sensory appeal, but tended to have negative effects for environmental aspects. As regards designer dilemmas, we noticed that some images (e.g., in the medical domain) required specific graphic styles to make them acceptable for commercial use. Our findings suggest that consumers can handle multiple packaging messages, but finding an optimal configuration remains a design challenge.

Highlights

Food packaging functions as a container that keeps its content safe and fresh, and provides a means to communicate the value of the contents and persuade potential consumers to purchase it
We focus on how such ben efits are communicated through packaging design and we include a wide variety of relevant domains in order to cover a variety of possible mechanisms
In this paper we focus on the communication of benefits in different domains through food packaging design

Summary

Introduction

Food packaging functions as a container that keeps its content safe and fresh, and provides a means to communicate the value of the contents and persuade potential consumers to purchase it. Besides using a text announcing a particular product benefit, graphic designers may convey a message through the images they use or the style of the packaging design This offers a certain creative freedom, and presents a dilemma because the various components must be clearly recognizable to the viewer and should be integrated into a cohesive design. Design principles affect how the different el ements are perceived (Kimball, 2013), for example that objects that are close together or share similar attributes (color, shape) are often perceived as belonging to the same group (O’Connor, 2015) These design considerations and the underlying process can be quite complex when multiple elements need to be integrated and balanced. The research in this paper describes how a designer created multiple packaging variants for the same product, communicating different benefits in multiple ways, and it presents the results of an empirical study assessing how a sample of naïve respondents evaluated these packaging designs

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