The influence of packaging color on taste expectations and perceptions

Abstract

AbstractThe color of food packaging has an important influence on consumers' purchasing decisions. This study takes popcorn packaging as an example to explore the impact of packaging color on consumers' taste perception and preference evaluation. Sixty participants were invited to participate in the experiment. Four experimental package design colors (red, blue, yellow, and white) and three popcorn tastes (sweet, salty, and tasteless) were used to evaluate whether the pretasting and posttasting evaluations were affected by package color and product taste. The results of this study indicated that (1) there is a contrast between expected psychological and actual perceptions and that (2) yellow and red packaging are suitable for a sweet product, blue is suitable for a salty product, and white is suitable for a tasteless product. The research results can help designers and manufacturers understand the effects of packaging color and achieve the design conditions required by consumers.