Packaging that excites: how design shapes consumer perception and brand value

In mature and highly competitive Food & Beverage categories, packaging is no longer a secondary design layer. It is a strategic interface between product, brand, and consumer expectations, it directly influences perceived quality, emotional response, and willingness to pay.

Recent advances in sensory science and consumer research show that emotional evaluation is becoming as important as traditional liking metrics. Simply asking consumers whether they “like” a product is often insufficient to predict market success (Gutjar et al., 2015). What increasingly differentiates winning products is how consistently the sensory promise communicated by packaging aligns with the actual consumption experience.

For marketing and R&D teams, this shifts packaging from a purely aesthetic decision to a sensory and behavioral lever.

Color and shape: the visual language of packaging

Visual cues are processed before taste, aroma, or texture — and they actively shape what consumers expect to experience. Research consistently shows that color and shape do not simply attract attention; they prime sensory perception and quality judgments.

A study on specialty coffee packaging demonstrated that congruent combinations of color and shape (e.g. green labels with angular shapes, pink labels with round shapes) led to significantly higher liking scores, even when the product itself remained unchanged (de Sousa et al., 2020). When visual design aligns with learned sensory associations, cognitive processing becomes smoother, and the overall experience is perceived as more pleasant.

From a business perspective, this means that packaging coherence can amplify perceived product performance without reformulation.

Color and shape variations in specialty coffee packaging influence liking score

Beyond color, packaging form itself conveys meaning. In the fruit juice category, research showed that:

• White caps were preferred over darker colors (blue, black, red)

• Anthropomorphic bottle shapes outperformed cylindrical or square formats in terms of attractiveness (Chitturi et al., 2019)

These effects are not purely aesthetic. They are linked to familiarity, approachability, and emotional resonance, which in turn influence purchase intent. For brands, especially in crowded shelves, structural design can act as a non-verbal shortcut to preference.

Color alone can strongly influence what consumers expect to taste. Recent findings show, for example, that:

• Pink is associated with sweetness and fruity notes

• Brown signals intensity, bitterness, and roasted aromas (Carvalho et al., 2025)

When these visual cues are misaligned with the actual sensory profile, the result is often disappointment — even if the product performs well objectively. This highlights a critical point for R&D and marketing alignment: packaging design must not oversell or misrepresent the sensory reality of the product.

Label messaging and value-based priming

In addition to visual aspects, the messages on the label can also influence the consumer experience. Information that communicates ethical, social, or sustainability claims influence not only brand perception, but also how products are tasted and evaluated.

Studies on ethical labeling in beer revealed that products carrying ethical claims were perceived as more pleasant and generated a higher willingness to pay — despite being identical to the control samples (Van Doorn et al., 2021). Similar effects have been observed in coffee and chocolate, where fair-trade products were consistently rated higher than conventional equivalents (Lotz et al., 2013).

For brand teams, this demonstrates that value communication actively modifies sensory perception, not just brand image.

Taken together, visual design and label messaging act as a priming mechanism. They establish expectations, activate memories, and frame the tasting experience before consumption even begins.

Ethical cues, color psychology, and structural design do not work in isolation. Their combined effect builds a sensory promise — and when that promise is fulfilled, brands benefit from higher liking, stronger emotional connection, and increased perceived value.

Strategic implications for Food & Beverage brands

For large F&B companies, packaging should be approached as:

• A sensory alignment tool between product formulation and consumer expectations

• A brand positioning lever, not just a compliance or design exercise

• A value amplifier, capable of increasing willingness to pay without changing the product itself

Integrating emotional measurement into sensory analysis allows companies to understand not only what consumers perceive, but how they feel — and how those feelings translate into preference, loyalty, and commercial success.

In this sense, packaging is no longer just a container. It is a strategic asset at the intersection of R&D, marketing, and consumer insight.

SOURCES

1. Gutjar, S., de Graaf, C., Kooijman, V., de Wijk, R. A., Nys, A., Ter Horst, G. J., & Jager, G. (2015). The role of emotions in food choice and liking. Food Research International, 76, 216-223 
2. de Sousa, M. M., Carvalho, F. M., & Pereira, R. G. (2020). Colour and shape of design elements of the packaging labels influence consumer expectations and hedonic judgments of specialty coffee. Food Quality and Preference, 83, 103902
3. Chitturi, R., Londono, J. C., & Amezquita, C. A. (2019). The influence of color and shape of package design on consumer preference: The case of orange juice. International Journal of Innovation and Economic Development, 5(2), 42-56
4. Van Doorn, G., Ferguson, R., Watson, S., Timora, J., Berends, D., & Moore, C. (2021). A Preliminary Investigation of the Effect of Ethical Labeling and Moral Self-Image on the Expected and Perceived Flavor and Aroma of Beer. Beverages, 7(2), 42 
5. Carvalho, F. M., Forner, R. A., Ferreira, E. B., & Behrens, J. H. (2025). Packaging colour and consumer expectations: Insights from specialty coffee. Food Research International, 208, 116222 
6. Lotz, S., Christandl, F., & Fetchenhauer, D. (2013). What is fair is good: Evidence of consumers’ taste for fairness. Food Quality and Preference, 30(2), 139-144