IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/joreco/v85y2025ics0969698925000438.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How to present food images on packaging? The influence of aesthetics design on consumers' perceived healthiness

Author

Listed:
  • Hu, Linfeng
  • Wang, Sainan
  • Zheng, Jiehui
  • Xu, Qianwen

Abstract

Product images on packaging are widespread and essential marketing tools in retailing. Consumers increasingly rely on packaging designs to infer healthiness of food. However, it remains unclear whether the presentation style of food images on packaging influences the perceived healthiness. This study delves into the impact of classical aesthetics design in presenting food images on healthiness judgments, as well as its mechanism and boundary, through five experiments. The results indicate that high classical aesthetic presentation of food images enhances consumers' healthiness perception and purchase intention, with perceived naturalness playing a mediating role. Moreover, including organic label on packaging moderates this aesthetics effect. Specifically, when an organic label is present, perceived naturalness fails to mediate the effect of aesthetics on perceived healthiness. These findings enrich the literature about effects of product images and expand aesthetics research in packaging field, while also offer insights for optimizing packaging marketing strategies and promoting consumers' healthy decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Hu, Linfeng & Wang, Sainan & Zheng, Jiehui & Xu, Qianwen, 2025. "How to present food images on packaging? The influence of aesthetics design on consumers' perceived healthiness," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:85:y:2025:i:c:s0969698925000438
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104264
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0969698925000438
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jretconser.2025.104264?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Krishna, Aradhna & Cian, Luca & Aydınoğlu, Nilüfer Z., 2017. "Sensory Aspects of Package Design," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 43-54.
    2. Gorton, Matthew & Tocco, Barbara & Yeh, Ching-Hua & Hartmann, Monika, 2021. "What determines consumers' use of eco-labels? Taking a close look at label trust," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    3. Arnaud Bigoin-Gagnan & S. Lacoste-Badie, 2018. "Symmetry influences packaging aesthetic evaluation and purchase intention," Post-Print halshs-02531994, HAL.
    4. Phillips, Megan & Kapitan, Sommer & Rush, Elaine, 2024. "From the store to the kitchen: Herbal scents drive wholesome food choice," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    5. Marko Sarstedt & Christian M. Ringle & Joseph F. Hair, 2022. "Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling," Springer Books, in: Christian Homburg & Martin Klarmann & Arnd Vomberg (ed.), Handbook of Market Research, pages 587-632, Springer.
    6. Alex Burnap & John R. Hauser & Artem Timoshenko, 2023. "Product Aesthetic Design: A Machine Learning Augmentation," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(6), pages 1029-1056, November.
    7. Mead, James A. & Richerson, Rob, 2018. "Package color saturation and food healthfulness perceptions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 10-18.
    8. Koo, Jieun & Suk, Kwanho, 2016. "The effect of package shape on calorie estimation," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 856-867.
    9. Lunardo, Renaud & Saintives, Camille, 2013. "The effect of naturalness claims on perceptions of food product naturalness in the point of purchase," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 20(6), pages 529-537.
    10. Yu, Junwei & Droulers, Olivier & Lacoste-Badie, Sophie, 2022. "Why display motion on packaging? The effect of implied motion on consumer behavior," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Kumar, Sushant & Dhir, Amandeep & Talwar, Shalini & Chakraborty, Debarun & Kaur, Puneet, 2021. "What drives brand love for natural products? The moderating role of household size," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    12. Togawa, Taku & Park, Jaewoo & Ishii, Hiroaki & Deng, Xiaoyan, 2019. "A Packaging Visual-Gustatory Correspondence Effect: Using Visual Packaging Design to Influence Flavor Perception and Healthy Eating Decisions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(4), pages 204-218.
    13. repec:hal:journl:hal-03512772 is not listed on IDEAS
    14. Baek, Eunsoo & Huang, Zhihong & Lee, Seojin Stacey, 2023. "Visual complexity = hedonic? Effects of visually complex packages on consumer perceptions and evaluations of products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    15. Grandi, Benedetta & Burt, Steve & Cardinali, Maria Grazia, 2021. "Encouraging healthy choices in the retail store environment: Combining product information and shelf allocation," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    16. Mai, Robert & Symmank, Claudia & Seeberg-Elverfeldt, Berenike, 2016. "Light and Pale Colors in Food Packaging: When Does This Package Cue Signal Superior Healthiness or Inferior Tastiness?," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 92(4), pages 426-444.
    17. Arnaud Bigoin-Gagnan & Sophie Lacoste-Badie, 2018. "Symmetry influences packaging aesthetic evaluation and purchase intention," Post-Print halshs-01940835, HAL.
    18. Marisabel Romero & Dipayan Biswas, 2016. "Healthy-Left, Unhealthy-Right: Can Displaying Healthy Items to the Left (versus Right) of Unhealthy Items Nudge Healthier Choices?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 43(1), pages 103-112.
    19. Szocs, Courtney & Lefebvre, Sarah, 2017. "Spread or stacked? Vertical versus horizontal food presentation, portion size perceptions, and consumption," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 249-257.
    20. Olivia Petit & Carlos Velasco & Charles Spence, 2018. "Are large portions always bad? Using the Delboeuf illusion on food packaging to nudge consumer behavior," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 435-449, December.
    21. Castagna, Ana Carina & Pinto, Diego Costa & Mattila, Anna & de Barcellos, Marcia Dutra, 2021. "Beauty-is-good, ugly-is-risky: Food aesthetics bias and construal level," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 633-643.
    22. Stijn Maesen & Lien Lamey & Anne ter Braak & Léon Jansen, 2022. "Going healthy: how product characteristics influence the sales impact of front-of-pack health symbols," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 108-130, January.
    23. Donato, Carmela & Adıgüzel, Feray, 2022. "Visual complexity of eco-labels and product evaluations in online setting: Is simple always better?," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    24. Dipayan Biswas & Kaisa Lund & Courtney Szocs, 2019. "Sounds like a healthy retail atmospheric strategy: Effects of ambient music and background noise on food sales," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 47(1), pages 37-55, January.
    25. Eva Marckhgott & Bernadette Kamleitner, 2019. "Matte matters: when matte packaging increases perceptions of food naturalness," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 167-178, June.
    26. Friedmann, Enav & Weiss-Sidi, Merav & Solodoha, Eliran, 2024. "Unveiling impact dynamics: Discriminatory brand advertisements, stress response, and the call for ethical marketing practices," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    27. Lee, Eun-Jung, 2022. "Do tech products have a beauty premium? The effect of visual aesthetics of wearables on willingness-to-pay premium and the role of product category involvement," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    28. Xuhong Ye & Xixian Peng & Xinwei Wang & Hock-Hai Teo, 2020. "Developing and Testing a Theoretical Path Model of Web Page Impression Formation and Its Consequence," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 31(3), pages 929-949, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Akturan, Ulun & Kuter, Deniz & Gökkut, B. Selin, 2025. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the most convincing of them all? A systematic literature review on packaging," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    2. Kevin L. Sample & Henrik Hagtvedt & S. Adam Brasel, 2020. "Components of visual perception in marketing contexts: a conceptual framework and review," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 405-421, May.
    3. Tan, Fuqiang & Li, Xi & Agarwal, Reeti & Joshi, Yatish & Yaqub, Muhammad Zafar, 2024. "Does multilingual packaging influence purchasing in retail segment? Evidence from multiple experiments," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Ouidade Sabri & Van Doan Hai & Faten Malek & Hager Bachouche, 2019. "When Is Transparent Packaging Beneficial?," Working Papers 2019-006, Department of Research, Ipag Business School.
    5. Huang, Zhiyuan & Dai, Xiaohe, 2025. "Less colorful = purer? The effect of packaging colorfulness on product purity perception," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    6. Roose, Gudrun & Vermeir, Iris, 2023. "Putting spatial product presentation cues on the map: Review and research directions," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 155(PA).
    7. Aner Tal & Yaniv Gvili & Moty Amar, 2021. "Visual Size Matters: The Effect of Product Depiction Size on Calorie Estimates," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-19, November.
    8. Wang, Jie & Zhang, Xiadan & Jiang, Jing, 2022. "Healthy-Angular, unhealthy-circular: Effects of the fit between shapes and healthiness on consumer food preferences," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 740-750.
    9. Haiying Wang & Muhamad Abdul Aziz Ab Gani & Chang Liu, 2023. "Impact of Snack Food Packaging Design Characteristics on Consumer Purchase Decisions," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    10. Pelet, Jean-Éric & Durrieu, François & Lick, Erhard, 2020. "Label design of wines sold online: Effects of perceived authenticity on purchase intentions," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    11. Liu, Stephanie Q. & Wu, Laurie Luorong & Yu, Xi & Huang, Huiling, 2022. "Marketing online food images via color saturation: A sensory imagery perspective," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 366-378.
    12. Yegyu Han & Mario Pandelaere, 2021. "All that glitters is not gold: when glossy packaging hurts brand trust," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 32(2), pages 191-202, June.
    13. Eva Marckhgott & Bernadette Kamleitner, 2019. "Matte matters: when matte packaging increases perceptions of food naturalness," Marketing Letters, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 167-178, June.
    14. Togawa, Taku & Park, Jaewoo & Ishii, Hiroaki & Deng, Xiaoyan, 2019. "A Packaging Visual-Gustatory Correspondence Effect: Using Visual Packaging Design to Influence Flavor Perception and Healthy Eating Decisions," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 95(4), pages 204-218.
    15. Courtney Szocs & Sara Williamson & Adam Mills, 2022. "Contained: why it’s better to display some products without a package," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(1), pages 131-146, January.
    16. Hüttl-Maack, Verena & Munz, Rafael, 2025. "Lost in translation? How multilingual packaging influences product evaluations by impeding consumers’ processing fluency," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 68-85.
    17. Pozharliev, Rumen & De Angelis, Matteo & Rossi, Dario & Bagozzi, Richard & Amatulli, Cesare, 2023. "I might try it: Marketing actions to reduce consumer disgust toward insect-based food," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 99(1), pages 149-167.
    18. Ketron, Seth & Spears, Nancy, 2021. "Sound-symbolic signaling of online retailer sizes: The moderating effect of shopping goals," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    19. Martinez, Luisa M. & Rando, Belén & Agante, Luisa & Abreu, Ana Maria, 2021. "True colors: Consumers’ packaging choices depend on the color of retail environment," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    20. Rizzi, Francesco & Gigliotti, Marina & Runfola, Andrea & Ferrucci, Luca, 2022. "Don't miss the boat when consumers are in-store! Exploring the use of point-of-purchase displays to promote green and non-green products," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:joreco:v:85:y:2025:i:c:s0969698925000438. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-retailing-and-consumer-services .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.