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Contribution Details

Type Journal Article
Scope Discipline-based scholarship
Title The visual ecology of product packaging and its effects on consumer attention
Organization Unit
Authors
  • Jacob L Orquin
  • Martin P Bagger
  • Erik S Lahm
  • Klaus G Grunert
  • Joachim Scholderer
Item Subtype Original Work
Refereed Yes
Status Published in final form
Language
  • English
Journal Title Journal of Business Research
Publisher Elsevier
Geographical Reach international
ISSN 0148-2963
Volume 111
Page Range 187 - 195
Date 2020
Abstract Text 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.
Related URLs
Digital Object Identifier 10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.043
Other Identification Number merlin-id:20054
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