The visual ecology of product packaging and its effects on consumer attention

Jacob L. Orquin; Martin P. Bagger; Erik S. Lahm; Klaus G. Grunert; Joachim Scholderer

doi:10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.043

The visual ecology of product packaging and its effects on consumer attention

Jacob L. Orquin
, Martin P. Bagger
, Erik S. Lahm
, Klaus G. Grunert
, Joachim Scholderer

Department of Business and Economics

Reykjavik University

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Visual ecology is the study of how different species perceive their visual surroundings. We introduce the concept to consumer research and show that the micro-ecology of product packaging has a predictable visual ecology. Analyzing images of 158 consumer products, we show that brand-related packaging elements are visually conspicuous in terms of visual salience, surface size, and distance to center, while elements related to credence characteristics like sustainability and nutrition are visually inconspicuous. We show that the visual ecology of product packaging is a strong driver of consumer attention independently of consumer goals. Our findings suggest that the reason consumers regularly ignore sustainability and nutrition information is not lack of motivation, but because their visual environment acts as a barrier to attending this information. We conclude with a prediction for consumer attention given a policy intervention to increase the conspicuity of sustainability and nutrition information.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	187-195
Number of pages	9
Journal	Journal of Business Research
Volume	111
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.043
Publication status	Published - Apr 2020

Bibliographical note

Funding Information: This research was supported in part by the Danish Council for Strategic Research under grant 2101-09-044, ?Bridging the gap between health motivation and food choice behaviour: A cognitive approach? (HEALTHCOG) and the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and is a part of the ?Contract between Aarhus University and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries for the provision of research-based policy advice, etc., at Aarhus University, DCA?Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture, 2013?2016?. Data is available via the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/sbym5/. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

Other keywords

Bottom-up control
Consumer attention
Eye movements
Top-down control
Visual ecology

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10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.043Licence: Unspecified

Cite this

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title = "The visual ecology of product packaging and its effects on consumer attention",

abstract = "Visual ecology is the study of how different species perceive their visual surroundings. We introduce the concept to consumer research and show that the micro-ecology of product packaging has a predictable visual ecology. Analyzing images of 158 consumer products, we show that brand-related packaging elements are visually conspicuous in terms of visual salience, surface size, and distance to center, while elements related to credence characteristics like sustainability and nutrition are visually inconspicuous. We show that the visual ecology of product packaging is a strong driver of consumer attention independently of consumer goals. Our findings suggest that the reason consumers regularly ignore sustainability and nutrition information is not lack of motivation, but because their visual environment acts as a barrier to attending this information. We conclude with a prediction for consumer attention given a policy intervention to increase the conspicuity of sustainability and nutrition information.",

keywords = "Bottom-up control, Consumer attention, Eye movements, Top-down control, Visual ecology",

author = "Orquin, \{Jacob L.\} and Bagger, \{Martin P.\} and Lahm, \{Erik S.\} and Grunert, \{Klaus G.\} and Joachim Scholderer",

note = "Funding Information: This research was supported in part by the Danish Council for Strategic Research under grant 2101-09-044, ?Bridging the gap between health motivation and food choice behaviour: A cognitive approach? (HEALTHCOG) and the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and is a part of the ?Contract between Aarhus University and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries for the provision of research-based policy advice, etc., at Aarhus University, DCA?Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture, 2013?2016?. Data is available via the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/sbym5/. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2019 Elsevier Inc.",

year = "2020",

month = apr,

doi = "10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.043",

language = "English",

volume = "111",

pages = "187--195",

journal = "Journal of Business Research",

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AU - Orquin, Jacob L.

AU - Bagger, Martin P.

AU - Lahm, Erik S.

AU - Grunert, Klaus G.

AU - Scholderer, Joachim

N1 - Funding Information: This research was supported in part by the Danish Council for Strategic Research under grant 2101-09-044, ?Bridging the gap between health motivation and food choice behaviour: A cognitive approach? (HEALTHCOG) and the Danish Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and is a part of the ?Contract between Aarhus University and Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries for the provision of research-based policy advice, etc., at Aarhus University, DCA?Danish Centre for Food and Agriculture, 2013?2016?. Data is available via the Open Science Framework: https://osf.io/sbym5/. Publisher Copyright: © 2019 Elsevier Inc.

PY - 2020/4

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AB - Visual ecology is the study of how different species perceive their visual surroundings. We introduce the concept to consumer research and show that the micro-ecology of product packaging has a predictable visual ecology. Analyzing images of 158 consumer products, we show that brand-related packaging elements are visually conspicuous in terms of visual salience, surface size, and distance to center, while elements related to credence characteristics like sustainability and nutrition are visually inconspicuous. We show that the visual ecology of product packaging is a strong driver of consumer attention independently of consumer goals. Our findings suggest that the reason consumers regularly ignore sustainability and nutrition information is not lack of motivation, but because their visual environment acts as a barrier to attending this information. We conclude with a prediction for consumer attention given a policy intervention to increase the conspicuity of sustainability and nutrition information.

KW - Bottom-up control

KW - Consumer attention

KW - Eye movements

KW - Top-down control

KW - Visual ecology

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VL - 111

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JO - Journal of Business Research

JF - Journal of Business Research

ER -

The visual ecology of product packaging and its effects on consumer attention

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Other keywords

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Cite this