EFECTOS DEL USO DE ELEMENTOS GRÁFICOS EN UN ENVASE ALIMENTARIO EN EL PROCESO DE CATEGORIZACIÓN Y GENERACIÓN DE EXPECTATIVAS

Abstract

Several factors influence the purchase decision process of a food product, being the packaging one of them. The packaging of a product plays a key role attracting consumer attention and raising expectations. Hence it is relevant to analyze what the role of the different packaging elements in the expectations generating process is. While textual information elements have been widely studied, some graphic aspects of the packaging remain relatively unexplored. This is the case, for example, of the symbols and pictorial icons used to transmit product information. Although the designer is interested in controlling the message inferred by the consumer, an image displayed on a packaging can evoke an ambiguous message and be interpreted in different ways. The objective of this research is to analyze if the designer can modulate consumer expectations in the desired way by simply manipulating the shape of the image. The results of this research may be relevant for designers and producers shedding light on the way the consumer is influenced by the image displayed on food packaging.