Packaging Design Can Alter Perception Of Your Product

Have you ever watched a cooking show and noticed how much effort the chefs put into presentation? They labour over it and get grilled (pardon the pun) for any errors. Why is this? Sure, a lot of it is a part of the art of cooking, but the rest of it goes down to the old adage “you eat with your eyes”.

We generally use all of our senses when consuming food, and sight is a huge part of this. So when marketing food on the shelves of supermarkets, how do we make the product appealing when we can’t plate it up? Packaging design.

Now, packaging design is not immune to this “eat with your eyes” concept, in fact it’s pretty arguable that it matters even more so for packaged goods than plated ones. In his book Blink, Malcolm Gladwell determined that slight changes, additions and tweaks to the packaging of certain products changed how people reacted and tasted them. Blogger Joseph Putnam summarised some of Gladwell’s findings as such:

“If you add 15 percent more yellow to the green on 7 UP packaging, people report that it has more lime or lemon flavor, even though the drink itself was left untouched.”

“On a can of Chef Boyardee Ravioli, a picture of a close up of a real human face influences perceived quality more than a full body shot or a cartoon character.”

“In the Hormel logo, adding a sprig of parsley between the ‘r’ and ‘m’ causes customers to perceive the products as being more fresh.”

So, for product retailers who work within the realm of packaging, making specific and calculated design decisions can make a huge difference with how consumers perceive and consume your product.