Power versus morality: uncovering the underlying mechanisms of consumer response to perceived visual sustainability in package design
| Date | 25 July 2024 |
| Pages | 215-230 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-08-2023-4639 |
| Published date | 25 July 2024 |
| Author | Kristina Nickel,Rebekka A. Böhm |
Power versus morality: uncovering the
underlying mechanisms of consumer
response to perceived visual
sustainability in package design
Kristina Nickel
A&F Marketing –Consumer Psychology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany and Kiel Institute for Responsible Innovation,
Kiel University, Kiel, Germany, and
Rebekka A. Böhm
A&F Marketing –Consumer Psychology, Kiel University, Kiel, Germany
Abstract
Purpose –Visual sustainability has gained significant relevance for both firms and consumers. While the importance of perceived sustainability in
package design is well researched, there is a research gap regarding divergent responses of consumers to perceived visual sustainability. This
research aims to close this gap by providing deeper insights into the underlying mechanisms of perceivedvisual sustainability in package design. As
a boundary condition, this work also investigates gender differences in response to a design’s visual sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach –To explore the mediating influences of cognitive (i.e. a product’s gentleness and power) versus emotional (i.e.
moral satisfaction) attributes as well as the role of consumer gender in the perceived visual sustainability–purchase intention relationship, the
authors extend previous research through three experiments.
Findings –Study 1 provides initial evidence supporting the main effect of perceived visual sustainability on purchase intention. Findings of Study 2
show that moral satisfaction serves as a significant driver of purchase intention for females, while power-related attributes are more influential for
males. Study 3 provides additional evidence for the main effect, the interaction effect withconsumer gender and underlying mechanisms.
Practical implications –These findings have important implications for marketers and designers aiming to design packages that appeal todifferent
consumer groups based on their (gender-specific) values regarding visual sustainability.
Originality/value –This work extends the literature on green behavior by highlighting the importance of perceived visual sustainability as a factor
that influences purchase intention and the role of cognitive versus affective mechanisms in shaping consumer responses to design sustainability.
Keywords Product design, Gender studies, Sustainability, Consumer behavior, Packaging
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
Recently, sustainability has become an increasingly important topic
for firmsaswellasconsumers(
Szabo and Webster, 2021).
Particularly, the packaging industry significantly impacts the
environment due to the use of nonrenewable materials and the
production of waste (Kakadellis and Harris, 2020;Mladenovic
et al., 2024). To reduce their environmental footprint, companies
and manufacturers are continuously developing packages thatare
more sustainable (Magnier et al., 2016). As consumers are also
becoming aware of the impact of their own behavior and
consumption choices on the environment, they value environment -
friendly product packages (Rokka and Uusitalo, 2008).
In general, visual design plays a crucial role in consumers’
decision-making processes (Bloch, 1995), as it can influence
emotions (Reimann et al., 2010) and consumers’perceptions and
expectations of the product’squality,price(Orth et al., 2010)and
even its sustainability (Steenis et al., 2017). According to the
Gestalt theory (Koffka, 1935), consumers acquire and process
bundles of design elements before making purchase decisions
(Herbes et al., 2020). By using bundles of visual sustainability
cues, marketers can communicate sustainability and appeal to
ecologically conscious consumers (Magnier and Cri
e, 2015).
BasedonresearchbyMagnier and Cri
e (2015) and Nguyen et al.
(2020), this work focuses on (a) graphical (i.e. color and typeface),
(b) iconographical (i.e. symbols), (c) informational (i.e. claims)
and (d) structural (i.e. material) elements. As this work focuses on
consumer perceptions of package designs varying in visual
sustainability, we refer to this concept as perceived visual
sustainability throughout the paper.
The current issue and full text archiveof this journal is available on Emerald
Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1061-0421.htm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
34/2 (2025) 215–230
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-08-2023-4639]
The authors thank Sinja Schubert, Luna Conradt, and Merle Juergs for
excellent research assistance provided.
Received 9 August2023
Revised 1 February 2024
8 April 2024
4 July 2024
Accepted 4 July 2024
215
Perceived visual sustainability was found to positivelyinfluence
behavioral intentions (e.g. purchase intention) (Yiridoe et al.,
2005). Contrary, findings from other studies suggest that visual
sustainability has negative effects on consumers’willingness-to-
pay and word-of-mouth (Acuti et al., 2022). Some consumers
might prefer less sustainable products because they are perceived
as more effective or powerful than sustainable alternatives. This
effect is known as the “sustainability liability effect”(Luchs et al.,
2010). To clarify the ambiguous empirical evidence andenhance
the understanding of the effect of perceived visual sustainability on
purchase intention, this work investigates potential mediators.
More precisely, by testing possible underlying mechanisms, the
present work explores (a) cognitive product-related attributes (i.e.
gentleness and power) versus (b) the emotional benefitofthe
purchase in form of moral satisfaction as possible process
mediators.
Furthermore, there is a research gap in the investigation of
how the influence of perceived visualsustainability on purchase
behavior varies across different consumer groups. Specifically,
the investigation of gender [1] differences in responseto visual
sustainability is rare. While previous research hasprovided
evidence for gender differences in green behavior(F, 1), there
is limited research on how gender impacts consumer response
to perceived visual sustainability in package design. Given
the importance of visual design in consumer behavior,the
investigation of gender differences in response to adesign’s
visual sustainability could have significant implications for
firms and consumers. Moreover, underlying reasons and
mechanisms for gender differences in response to visual
sustainability in package design are under-researched. While
some studies suggest that gender differences in environmental
attitudes and behaviors may be due to differences in
socialization and cultural norms(e.g. Brough et al., 2016), it is
unclear what the underlying mechanisms of gender differences
in response to visual sustainabilityof package design are.
Our studies contribute to existing literature on visual
sustainability (e.g. Magnier and Cri
e, 2015;Magnier and
Schoormans, 2015;Magnier et al., 2016) in several ways. First, it
fills the gap in research regarding the understanding of mixed
effects of visual sustainability on consumer response by
combining concepts based on the stereotype-content model
(SCM) (Fiske et al., 2007) with cognitive versus emotional
benefits of visual sustainability (Magnier and Cri
e, 2015)totest
product-related (i.e. gentleness vs power) versus affect-related
(i.e. moral satisfaction) mediators. Second, as consumer gender
is an essential segmentation variable (Friedmann and Lowengart,
2019), for both researchers and practitioners, it is crucial to
understand gender differences in response to perceived visual
sustainability. In summary, we hope to contribute to a more
complete understanding of how and why visual sustainability in
package design affects consumer response. This can help firms
design packages that appeal to different consumer groups and aid
consumers to make more informed decisions.
Conceptual framework
The influence of perceived visual sustainability
Visual design in packages is an important phenomenon in
consumers’lives and a key consideration in creating
commercial offers (Bloch, 1995). Findings from design
research indicate that designsarenot only perceived in terms of
their functional properties but also in terms of the symbolic
connotations they embody (Creusen and Schoormans, 2005).
Therefore, package design elements such as materials (e.g.
recycled materials), colors (e.g. natural colors such as brown
and green), symbols (e.g. images of nature) and claims (e.g.
plant-based ingredients) are often used to signal sustainability
(Magnier and Cri
e, 2015;Magnier et al.,2016). By examining
perceived visual sustainabilityas a configural design factor, this
work adopts a holistic perspective rather than the elemental
view taken in investigations on specificdesign elements such as
color (Marozzo et al.,2020) and symbols (Gruber et al.,2014).
Examining configural properties possibly provides better
insights into consumer response than elemental approaches
(Kumar and Garg, 2010), because people’s perception of
visuals is a holistic experience (Hekkert, 2006). According to
Gestalt psychologists, perceived visual sustainability can be
defined as a number of design elements chosen and blended
into a holisticvisual design.
Companies can communicate the sustainability of their
products through a bundle of design attributes. As there has
been only limited research on consumer perceptions of
sustainable package design (Nguyen et al., 2020)andin
distinction from the governmental and scientificview of design
sustainability, we focus on the consumers’point of view. As a
credibility attribute, sustainability is not perceivable per se.
Consequently, consumers have to look for cues that visualize
and communicate the concept of sustainability (Majer et al.,
2022). From the consumer perspective, a sustainable package
design can be defined as one that explicitly or implicitly evokes
the eco-friendliness of the packaging via its (a) graphical (i.e.
colors and typefaces), (b) iconographical (i.e. symbols), (c)
informational (i.e. claims) and (d) structural (i.e. materials)
elements (Magnier and Cri
e, 2015;Nguyen et al.,2020;
Steenis et al.,2017). As visual sustainability is not a clear
concept in the consumer behavior literature with researchers
using different terms to indicatevisual sustainability in package
design (e.g. green packaging or eco-design), thiswork focuses
on these design elements used by consumers to identify
sustainability (see Web Appendix A for more details on
different design elements and their role in consumers’
perception of sustainability).
A previous study by Magnier and Schoormans (2015)
showed that visual sustainable packages positively influence
purchase intention. These positive effects were found for both
single visual sustainability elements such as symbols (Yiridoe
et al.,2005)and the bundle of cues (Magnier and Schoormans,
2015; see also Branca et al.,2024for an overview). Therefore,
we hypothesize:
H1. Consumers show higher purchaseintention for packages
high in perceived visual sustainability than low in
perceived visualsustainability.
Gender as a boundary condition
Generally, females display greater concern and willingness to
take action to help the environmentsuch that females litter less
(Kallgren et al.,2000), recycle more (Oztekin et al.,2017)and
have a smaller overall carbon footprint (Räty and Carlsson-
Power versus morality
Kristina Nickel and Rebekka A. Böhm
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 34 · Number 2 · 2025 · 215–230
216
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