Food Imagery and Transparency in Product Packaging

The sight of food has a profound effect on us, from making us feel hungry/increasing our appetite, through to encouraging us to imagine what it would be like to eat that which we see. Indeed, using enticing visual imagery has been a common and effective tactic in the marketing of food and drink products for many decades now. Such imagery has been common in advertising, on menus, product packaging, and increasingly, on social media as well. However, despite its prevalence, any effect of being able to see the product itself on (or through) the packaging remains relatively poorly understood. Only over the past two decades has this research theme started to receive empirical scrutiny, with a growing body of findings now helping to highlight how the sight of a product influences the evaluations and behaviours of consumers. This chapter covers three main themes: the impact of product imagery printed on the pack; the impact of transparent packaging (thus allowing direct sight of the product itself); and a synthesis of these findings, paired with a number of concrete recommendations for academics, designers, and public health practitioners. We conclude by considering the future for product imagery and transparent packaging.