The Power of Symbolic Packaging Cues Iris van Ooijen 1
Introduction
Packaging can be considered as an element of communication in the marketplace. By communicating through packaging, marketers are able to appeal to consumers at the most crucial moment in the consumer decision journey: the point of sale. At the point of sale, consumers are able to consider the purchase of a product by evaluating the visual and tactile attributes of its packaging. Marketers increasingly become aware of the powerful role of packaging as a communication tool, which is reflected in the recognition of the capacity of packaging to create product differentiation and identity within product categories that are relatively homogenous, such as FMCG goods (Bertrand, 2002; Underwood, 2003). Moreover, some brands (e.g., Dorset Cereals and Innocent Smoothies) have managed to grow towards the top of the market by allocating their advertising budgets almost entirely to their packaging design. Indeed, visual attributes, such as aesthetic appearance but also logos and product claims on the package, have shown to affect product evaluation and preference (Deighton, 1992; Ford, Smith, & Swasy, 1990; van Grinsven & Das, 2014). In this chapter however, we argue that the power of “packvertising” goes beyond the view of packaging as a vehicle that communicates logos, product claims and product descriptions. More specifically, we propose that packaging has the ability to communicate symbolic meaning through unobtrusive features in its design. These features may affect product evaluations implicitly, by drawing from automatic associations that have developed during consumers’ interactions with the world. 1.1
Symbolic Meaning of Packaging
Advertising on packaging is not only based on objective product attributes such as technical specifications or ingredients, but is also (or rather) based on the meaning that the brand should convey. From a semiotic perspective, we interpret the meaning of a brand or product by the signs that are communicated by its packaging. An advertiser has the intention to communicate product identity or meaning through packaging, and therefore should select signs (packaging elements) that signal this meaning. Consumers interpret product identity by decoding these signs, which can be P. Verlegh et al. (eds.), Advances in Advertising Research (Vol. VI), European Advertising Academy, DOI 10.1007/978-3-658-10558-7_28, © Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden 2016
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iconic or symbolic (Peirce, 1931). For an iconic sign, its meaning is physically identical to its image. For instance, when a pack of cookies contains a photograph of the product that it contains inside, the photograph is an iconic sign for the product. The photograph still remains a sign however, since the photograph is not actually a cookie. A symbolic sign does not obviously resemble a meaning in the same way as an iconic sign. Instead, its meaning is indirect or associative, and determined by common understanding, context or culture (Morris, 1946). For instance, white symbolizes happiness and purity in the United States, while it is a symbol for mourning and death in Japan (Jacobs, Keown, Worthley, & Ghymn, 1991). As a symbolic sign, the color white acquired this meaning within the context of the receiver, and is associated with its meaning because in daily life this sign and its meaning repeatedly occurred simultaneously with each other in time or space (De Houwer, Thomas, & Baeyens, 2001; c.f. Morris, 1946; Walther, 2002). Similarly, visual packaging attributes such as color, size or shape, may communicate a symbolic meaning that consumers generalize to their product evaluations. These meanings may have evolved because consumers are repetitively exposed to the cue and an attribute within a consumer context. For instance, in marketing, the color blue is associated with trust and security. Therefore, brands with blue logos are seen as relatively more competent compared to other colors (e.g., Labrecque & Milne, 2012). By experiencing such a cue on the product package, its symbolic meaning is attributed to and associated with the product as a whole. Moreover, as Karjalainen (2007) argues, these ‘implicit’ cues elicit references that cannot be distinguished deliberatively, but ‘make sense’ when they are used in the correct manner (i.e., when they correctly communicate brand identity). 1.2
Consumers’ Associations with Packaging Color and Shape
Our aim was to investigate whether packaging is capable to communicate symbolic meaning through color and shape. First, we systematically investigated to what extent variations in color affect the meaning that is communicated by the product package. As argued by Labrecque and Milne (2012), there are few studies that address the meaning of color as a communicator of brand meaning, and discussions on the use of color are generally based on anecdotal evidence. Although marketers show a growing interest in the effects of packaging on brand experience (e.g., quality perception; healthiness), the use of color by marketers has been shown to be based more on gut feelings, rather than on color theory (Gorn, Chattopadhyay, Yi, & Dahl, 1997). Research from Ampuero and Vila (2006) may provide an exploration in the role of packaging color in creating brand associations. These authors conducted in-depth interviews with experts in
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packaging design, and found that in general, darker packaging colors were associated with quality, while lighter colors and the use of white were associated with budget. In the present study, we examined to what extent variations in packaging color are able to elicit associations with quality and price in consumers. Based on the findings by Ampuero and Vila, we propose that consumers perceive brightness and the presence of large white areas to be associated with lower quality (and prices). Packaging color may have acquired its meaning concerning price and quality in a consumer context. That is, consumers may have learned to associate certain colors with certain attributes because of repetitive exposure in a consumption context. As a second packaging cue, we used associations with visual cues that have their origin outside of the consumption context, and predict that those visual cues have the ability to affect associations with the product. Specifically, we used shape associations to increase judgments of tastefulness and healthiness of the product. Unhealthy food (i.e., food containing high amounts of sugar and fat) is generally thought of as tastier, but is also associated with a bigger body size (Katz et al., 2004), and a higher and unhealthier waist-hip ratio (Price, Uauy, Breeze, Bulpitt, & Fletcher, 2006). In the case of waist-hip ratio, a ratio of .7 is seen as ideal and healthy, while ratios of .8 and .9 are seen as overweight and unhealthy. Therefore, mimicking (unhealthy) body shape with packaging may be an effective symbolic cue to communicate the healthfulness (vs. tastefulness) of a product. More specifically, we propose that packaging with a higher width-height ratio and a higher “waist-hip ratio” is associated with a high amount of fat, but also with a more tasty product. We examined these associations in two empirical studies. 2
Study 1: Packaging Cues with Reference
In Study 1, we tested whether increasing shape and color changes of the packaging affects associations with product quality, price, tastiness and amount of fat while presenting reference versions of the packaging. That is, we investigated the effect of changes in the packaging while participants are able to use the other versions as reference material, reflecting a real-life shopping situation where consumers are able to compare several products on the shelf. 2.1
Method
Thirty-seven participants were asked to fill in the short questionnaire, and received a financial compensation or a partial course-fulfillment for their participation. In the first part of Study 1, we were interested in the meaning of
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packaging color for perception of the concepts quality and price. Using Adobe Photoshop CS6, we manipulated packaging color for two different product categories, namely coffee and potato chips. This resulted in a 2 by 3 repeated measures design with color cue (brightness, amount of white) and level (high, medium, low) as within subject variables. To manipulate brightness, the brightness values of the packaging colors (blue for chips and red for coffee) were set to 100% (high), 70% (medium) and 10% (low). Amount of white was manipulated by altering the white space on the packaging to either 85% (high), 50% (medium), or 15% (low). All the six packaging versions were represented by two different products, resulting in a total of twelve products (Fig. 1). In the second part of Study 1 we investigated the meaning of packaging shape for perception of the concepts tasty and healthy. Therefore, we manipulated packaging shape for the products salad dressing and yogurt drink using Adobe Photoshop. This resulted in a 2 by 3 repeated measures design with shape cue (width-height ratio, “waist-hip” ratio) and level (wide, medium, slim) as within subject variables. Width-height ratio was manipulated by increasing the width and decreasing the height with 10% and 15% respectively (wide condition), or the other way around (slim condition). All the packages contained a volume indication (350 ml). Waist-hip ratio was manipulated by altering the ratio between the width of the lowest point of the bottle and width of the middle of the bottle to either .7 (slim), .8 (medium), or .9 (wide condition). To make sure participants did not perceive one package to be bigger in volume than the other, the overall width of the .9 packaging was decreased a little, while the overall width of the .7 package was increased. Furthermore, we put a volume indication on the bottom of the packaging (350 ml). All the six packaging versions were represented by two different products, resulting in a total of twelve products (Fig. 2). Participants received the following instruction: In the supermarket, packaging is the most important way to communicate product identity to the consumer. By its packaging, you can see for instance whether a product is a luxurious product, an organic product, or a budget product. For instance, think about organic products. For organic products, the color green is often used, and often the packaging is made of recycled carton or brown paper. Because of these attributes, you can often recognize an organic product at a glance. We would like to know to what extent you associate certain product properties with different kinds of product packages. The focus is on your intuitive, primary response and NOT on you rational thoughts.
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You will now see different product packages that always vary on one attribute. Other attributes that are often visible on packaging, such as text and logos, are not visible here because we are only interested in a single attribute. We would like to know to what extent this attribute tells you something about the properties of the product.
Figure 1: Part of the stimulus material from Study 1 and 2 – part 1: symbolic color. Color brightness and amount of white were manipulated for both the categories paprika chips and coffee. Depicted are the brightness X paprika chips (above) and amount of white X coffee (below) versions of the stimuli.
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Figure 2: Part of the stimulus material from Study 1 and 2 – part 2: symbolic shape. Width-height ratio and “waist-hip ratio” were manipulated for both the categories yogurt drink and salad dressing. Depicted are the width-height ratio X yogurt drink (above) and “waist-hip” ratio X salad dressing (below) versions of the stimuli.
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There were three trials within each product category. Within each trial, participants were presented with all three products simultaneously, while they were asked to rate only one of the three products. In the color brightness and amount of white conditions, they were asked to indicate on a 2-dimensional scale to what extent they thought the packaging communicated a low (1) vs. high (7) price, and an inferior (1) vs. superior (7) quality. In the width-height ratio and waist-hip ratio conditions, participants were asked to indicate on a 2dimensional scale to what extent they thought the packaging communicated little taste (1) vs. much taste (7), and a low amount of fat per milliliter (1) vs. a high amount of fat per milliliter (7). The sequence of packages within a trial, as well as the sequence of product categories was randomly presented. 2.2
Results
2.2.1
Color
Compared to the medium and dark versions, the bright packaging version was rated as significantly lower in quality for both the coffee version, F (1,36) = 3.93, p = .055, η2 = .10, and the chips version, F (1,36) = 6.54, p = .015, η2 = .15. Furthermore, compared tot he medium and dark versions, the bright packaging was rated marginally significantly lower in price for the coffee version, F (1,36) = 3.15, p = .084, η2 = .08, and significantly lower for the chips version, F (1,36) = 4.36, p = .044, η2 = .11. For both product types, the medium and dark versions did not differ from each other on quality and price perception. A comparable but stronger pattern was visible for the packaging where the amount of white was manipulated. Compared to the medium and low versions, the high amount of white packaging version was rated as significantly lower in quality for both the coffee version, F (1,36) = 8,78, p = .005, η2 = .20, and the chips version, F (1,36) = 19.82, p < .0001, η2 = .36. Furthermore, compared tot he medium and low versions, the high amount of white packaging version was rated marginally significant lower in price for the coffee version, F (1,36) = 9.84, p = .003, η2 = .22, and significantly lower for the chips version, F (1,36) = 15.12, p < .0001, η2 = .30. Again, for both product types, the medium and low amount of white versions did not significantly differ from each other on quality and price perception.
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Figure 3: Graphical display of means for each combination of color and product version.
2.2.2
Shape
We found significant linear effects of width-height and waist-hip ratio on the expected amount of fat in the yogurt drink and salad dressing. An ANOVA with polynomial contrasts revealed a positive linear relationship between widthheight ratio and expected amount of fat for both the yogurt version, F (1,36) = 22.48, p < .0001, η2 = .38, and the dressing version, F (1,36) = 7.00, p = .012, η2 = .16. Also, the higher the waist-hip ratio of the packaging, the higher participants estimated the amount of fat per Milliliter product. This was the case for the yogurt version, F (1,36) = 29.40, p < .0001, η2 = .45, as well as the dressing version, F (1,36) = 21.63, p < .0001, η2 = .38. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find any significant differences in taste expectation among the different versions within width-height and waist-hip ratio.
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Figure4: Graphical display of means for each combination of shape and product version.
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Study 2: Packaging Cues without Reference
In Study 2, we presented participants with the same stimuli as in Study 1. In this study, however, we presented only one version of the product packaging at a time, in order to study the influence of symbolic cues when packages are presented in isolation. We were interested whether the effects would hold when participants did not have the ability to use the other packaging versions as a reference category when rating the packages. 3.1
Method
Fifty-one participants were asked to fill in the short questionnaire, and received a financial compensation or a partial course-fulfillment for their participation. Likewise Study 1, we were interested in the meaning of packaging color and shape for perception of the concepts quality and price, and tasty and price respectively. This time however, we did not present the range of packaging
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versions within a condition at the same time. Instead, the different packaging versions were presented consecutively in randomized order. Participants indicated their response each time before continuing to the next packaging version. 3.2
Results
3.2.1
Color
In line with the results obtained in the first study, compared to the medium (M = 3.96) and dark (M = 3.80) version, the bright packaging version (M = 3.45) was rated as significantly lower in quality for the chips version, F (1,50) = 4,68, p = .034, η2 = .09. Although the bright version (M = 3.59) of the coffee packaging was rated as lower in quality than the medium version (M = 4.28), F (1,50) = 9.03, p = .004, η2 = .15, the dark version (M = 3.63) was rated as equally low in quality as the bright version, F = .01. The same pattern was visible for price expectations. The brightest chips packaging version (M = 3.29) was expected to be lower in price than the medium (M = 3.78) and dark version (M = 3.78), F (1,50) = 7.36, p < .0001, η2 = .13. Also, the brightest coffee packaging (M = 3.35), was expected to be lower in price that the medium (M = 4.08) and dark (M = 3.86) version, F (1,50) = 7.03, p < .0001, η2 = .12. Again, for both product types, the medium and dark versions did not differ from each other on quality and price perception. A comparable pattern was visible for the packaging where the amount of white was manipulated. For the chips packaging, there was a negative linear relationship between amount of white and quality expectation (Mhigh = 3.19, Mmedium = 3.73, Mlow = 3.90), F (1,50) = 12.71, p < .0001, η2 = .14, and price expectation (Mhigh = 3.63, Mmedium = 3.33, Mlow = 2.80), F (1,50) = 13.36, p = .001, η2 = .21. Thus, the packaging with a high amount of white was associated with a lower product quality and price than the packaging with a medium amount of white, and in turn the latter was associated with a lower quality and price than the packaging with a low amount of white. The coffee packaging with a high amount of white was associated with a lower quality (M = 3.43) than the medium (M = 4.38) and high (M = 4.00) amount of white packaging, F (1,50) = 8.88, p = .004, η2 = .25. The high amount of white coffee packaging was also associated with a lower price (M = 3.12) than the medium (M = 4.10) and low (M = 3.78) amount of white packaging. The medium and low amount of white packaging did not differ from each other on price and quality expectations (p = .12 and p = .07 respectively).
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Shape
We found strong effects of width-height and waist-hip manipulation on the expected amount of fat. The width-height manipulation had a linear positive effect on expected amount of fat for the yogurt packaging (Mslim = 3.77, Mmedium = 4.31, Mwide = 4.98), F (1,50) = 22.09, p < .0001, η2 = .31, and this was also the case for the salad dressing packaging (Mslim = 3.71, Mmedium = 4.43, Mwide = 4.86), F (1,50) = 11.13, p = .002, η2 = .18. Thus, the normal packaging was associated with a higher amount of fat than the slim packaging, and the thick packaging was associated with a higher amount of fat than the normal packaging. Furthermore, the waist-hip ratio manipulation had a linear effect on expected amount of fat for the yogurt packaging (Mlow = 3.78, Mmedium = 4.08, Mhigh = 4.37), F (1,50) = 8.30, p < .0001, η2 = .14, and also for the dressing packaging, (Mlow = 3.49, Mmedium = 4.16, Mhigh = 4.59), F (1,50) = 23.56, p < .0001, η2 = .32 Likewise study 1, we did not find any effects of the shape manipulations on taste expectations. 4
Discussion
In two studies, we found support for the notion that packaging color and shape have the ability to communicate meaning to consumers. Our results indicate that - within two different product categories -, the use of bright colors on packaging communicates a lower product quality, as well as a lower product price. We found no linear effect of color brightness on quality and price associations: it was the bright packaging version in particular that communicated a lower price and quality. This was the case when consumers had the opportunity to use reference packaging, as well as when packaging was presented in isolation. We found similar effects of the amount of white that was used in the packaging on quality and price perception. Packaging with a high amount of white consistently communicated a lower price and quality. Although we also found differences between the medium and low amount of white packages in half of the cases, these were not visible in all conditions. Therefore, we conclude that particularly packages with a very high amount of white communicate a lower price and a lower quality. But not only colors can be used for symbolic communications. We also found effects of shape. Specifically, we found that increasing degrees of widthheight and waist-hip ratio had a linear positive effect on associations with a high amount of fat per Milliliter product. Since participants rated the associated amount of fat per Milliliter product, and the volume descriptions of the product were identical in all three conditions, it is unlikely that the effects of width-
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height and waist-hip ratio are caused by differences in volume perception. These results indicate that imitating human body sizes by varying the degree of these ratios affects perception of the amount of fat, and thus the healthiness of the product. These findings suggest that marketers should take into account the shape of packaging design when they wish to communicate that a product contains a low amount of fat. However, further research is necessary to examine the effects of packaging shape on the expected amount of fat when additional packaging cues are used, such as product claims or information about ingredients. Also, future research should address whether varying the widthheight and waist-hip ratio of packaging may have different and possibly stronger effects for consumers who have a high concern for their weight or are currently dieting. This group of consumers may be more preoccupied with body size, and therefore may be affected stronger by these kinds of packaging cues. Contrary to our expectations, we did not find positive effects of width-height and waist-hip ratio on taste associations. Some authors found a negative relationship between perceived healthiness and tastiness of vegetables and fastfood (Raghunathan, Naylor, & Hoyer, 2006). However, this relationship may simply not apply to the products that we used in our study, since we tested packaging of yogurt drink and salad dressing, which are categories for which the healthy = tasty association may be considerably weaker compared to vegetables and fast-food. Our aim was to examine whether an increasing degree of specific packaging cues affects product associations in a linear way, and we found partial support for our hypotheses. However, in Studies 1 and 2 we manipulated the packaging cues brightness, amount of white, width-height ratio and waist-hip ratio using three levels. To get a better understanding of the type of relationship between the degree of various packaging cues and their meaning, a study with a higher range of cue levels is necessary. With such a design, it may even be possible to examine the “optimal” degree of certain packaging cues for communicating product or brand meaning. Although we did not directly test the difference between cue presentation with versus without reference packaging, we found that the effects of packaging cues were highly similar when participants were able to use reference packages that differed on the cue in question, in comparison to when the cue was presented in isolation. In both cases, we found moderate to strong effects of our cue manipulations. This may have relevant implications in practice. That is, symbolic packaging cues may affect product associations when consumers are standing in front of the shelf in a supermarket, where they use other packaging as a reference, but may also affect product associations when a product packaging is presented in isolation, for instance in an advertisement or a TV-commercial.
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Although these notions need further investigation, this study shows that packaging is not merely a vehicle that communicates explicit product information, but is also a tool that helps communicate meaning by unobtrusive features in its design. Therefore, it may be a powerful advertising tool in creating and strengthening product and brand identity.
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Acknowledgements
I thank Peeter Verlegh, Marieke Fransen and Edith Smit for their valuable input and comments on an earlier draft. 6
References
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