Packaging design - a strategic approach to enhance consumers' sensory perceptions and overall enjoyment of healthy food and drinks
Project team: Sarah Thomas
Member funded project
Running: January 2015 – December 2017
Steering MIG: Sensory and consumer
Project number: 134929
Proposal documentation
There is a growing demand from both government and consumers for food and drink products that support a healthy lifestyle. Trends for 'healthier' products are focusing on reformulation initiatives (e.g. low or reduced fat, salt, and sugar), promoting 'naturally healthy' products, and health and nutrition claims. This project will assist the healthy food and drink product development process, but from a different perspective. It will focus on packaging designs and will investigate how packaging design can be effectively utilised to communicate product health benefits and enhance consumers' healthy food experience and enjoyment.
Our previous research revealed associations between packaging design elements (e.g. colour, graphics, shape) and expected product sensory characteristics (taste, flavour), and demonstrated the impact of packaging designs on consumers' liking and perceptions of product attributes. In this project, we will explore consumers' associations between a number of design elements, e.g. colour, shape, images, and their perceived 'healthiness'. Outcomes from this research will provide general guidance on various packaging design elements and the likelihood of consumers perceiving them as being healthy.
Project coverage
- R&D437: A combined consumer application of Triadic-PSP and CATA to assess consumers’ health associations of food products based on packaging cues
- R&D436: Understanding how consumers utilise packaging cues to determine the key message in the context of health for a retail sourced beef lasagne
- R&D424: An evaluation of extrinsic cues when designing product packaging
- R&D406: How does product packaging convey perceptual (sensory) and non-perceptual (functional and emotional benefits) product information?
- R&D401: How the satisfaction scale enhances and validates overall hedonic liking measures in the context of green tea
- RSS 2017-26: Can Triadic-PSP be utilised to assess aspects of a brand’s positioning?
- RSS 2017-22: Can choice-based conjoint be utilised to assess associations regarding communication messages on product packaging designs?
- RSS 2016-27: Which packaging features are most important to consumers when choosing a healthy ready to eat fresh/refrigerated convenience meal?
- RSS 2016-07: Does packaging effectively convey non-perceptual (functional and emotion benefits) product information?
- RSS 2015-11: Does a satisfaction scale add an additional perspective to overall liking?
- MIG - Sensory and consumer - Feb 2018
- MIG - Sensory and consumer - Feb 2017
- MIG - Packaging - May 2016
- MIG - Sensory and consumer - Feb 2015
Related items
- This R&D report examines assessing dissonance between packaging and product experience - A white wine study.
- An investigation into how consumers respond when exposed to different types of claim statements.
- This research summary sheet looks at which type of claim motivates consumers to buy a product: Health, nutrition or sensory?