Cultural aspects of package designs

Author(s)

Udo Wagner, Jutatip Jamsawang, Andreas Zöchling

Abstract

In cognitive psychology, some scientists thoroughly deal with the influence of the reading direction and the figure-ground separation on visual evaluation of images and alignment of focus objects. The reading direction influence among others the aesthetic judgment to a large extent: persons, who read from right to left, prefer pictures with the same orientation (i.e., right to left). In addition, research findings of figure-ground separation demonstrate, that members of Western cultures tend to focus on subjects or objects, which are located in the
front of a picture (e.g., if a photo portrays a person within an environment, Westerners tend to appraise it by concentrating on − the facial expression of − this person). People from Eastern cultures, however, tend to pay more attention to the context. This study deals with the visual assessment of the design of a product packaging in retailing. In particular, we analyze the effects of the orientation of a focus object and its figure-ground separation on visual attention and evaluation. Respondents with three different cultural backgrounds
(Austrian, Chinese and Israeli) are exposed to experimentally manipulated packaging with left-right and right-left orientation of the focus object. Visual attention generated is measured by means of eye-tracking. The evaluation, as well as the likelihood of buying the product is measured by means of a questionnaire. By and large, results are in accordance with stated hypotheses.

Organisation(s)

Department of Accounting, Innovation and Strategy

Publication date

2015

Peer reviewed

Yes

Austrian Fields of Science 2012

502020 Market research

Keywords

Portal url

https://ucrisportal.univie.ac.at/en/publications/cultural-aspects-of-package-designs(a050052f-a41e-4aaa-b999-4ea0a0572a2e).html