(Relative) size matters: a content analysis of front-of-packaging cue proportions and hierarchies
| Date | 05 July 2024 |
| Pages | 783-800 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JPBM-02-2024-4980 |
| Published date | 05 July 2024 |
| Author | Madison Renee Pasquale,Luke Butcher,Min Teah |
(Relative) size matters: a content analysis of
front-of-packaging cue proportions and
hierarchies
Madison Renee Pasquale, Luke Butcher and Min Teah
School of Management and Marketing, Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Abstract
Purpose –Front-of-packaging (FOP) is a critical branding tool that uses “cues”to communicate product attributes and establish distinct brand
images. This paper aims to understand how food brands utilize cues and their relative proportions to hierarchically communicate brand image and
belonging to particular subcategories.
Design/methodology/approach –A content analysis is used for analysing 543 food FOPs sold in Australia (breakfast cereals, chips, snack
bars). Samples are collected and classified into product sub-categories defined by ingredients, consumer-audience and retail placement.A novel
10 10 coding grid is applied to each FOP to objectively analyse cue proport ion, with statistical comparison undertaken between sub-
categories.
Findings –Results reveal intrinsic cues are favoured over extrinsic cues, except for those in the eatertainment sub-category. Hierarchies are
evidenced that treat product and branding cues as primary, with health cues secondary. Statistically significant differences in cue proportions are
consistently evident across breakfast cereals, chips and snack-bar FOPs. Clear differentiation is evidenced through cue proportions on FOP for
health/nutrition focused sub-categories and eatertainment foods.
Originality/value –“Cue utilization theory”research is extended to an evaluation of brand encoding (not consumer decoding). Design conventions
reveal how cue proportions establish a dialogue of communicating brand/product image hierarchically, the trade-of fs that occur, a “meso-level”to
Gestalt theory, and achieving categorization through FOP cue proportions. Deeper understanding of packaging design techniques provides inter-
disciplinary insights that extend consumer behaviour, retailing and design scholarship.
Keywords Packaging, Cues, Proportions, Hierarchies, Categorization, Brand image, Gestalt
Paper type Technical paper
Introduction
Product packaging is composed of a range of v isual and verbal
cues that signify meaning to consumers. This communication
between brands and con sumers is essential in the retail space
where a brand’s capacity to engage potential consumers is
silent and highly clu ttered. Packaging is critical to market ing
as its graphical, text ural and structural d esign serve as
powerful means to enhance brand impressions and
consumers’perceptions of product attributes (Chen, 2021)
to form a distinct brand image (Chen et al., 2024). This is
constructed through the cue types used, their sizes relative to
others and how partic ular cues are favoure d over others to
establish a competing or complementary brand image within
a particular product sub-category. Evidently, packaging
design’s purpose has evolv ed beyond presenting product s in a
visually aesthet ic manner to its curr ent imperative of
capturing consumers’attention to favour choice. Front-of -
packaging specifically has become “pr ime real-estate”in
retail environments saturated with competitors and
environmental stimuli, and consequently fulfils a critical rol e
in communicating brand personality and value propositions
and capturing consumers’attentio n at purchase-poin ts
(Dopico-Parada et al., 2021) where decisions are made.
Cues are used to communicate product attributes in
accordancewith the intended imageof the brand or product (Jin
et al.,2019). For example, a food brand seeking to attract
attention and encodea“healthy”brand image through front-of-
packaging design may use cues like health claims, nutritional
information and images of whole fruit. Consequently,
consumers may decode this information, perceiving the product
to be “wholesome”and“nutritious”and developcorresponding
associations, attitudes or behaviours (i.e. purchase,
consumption). The use of cues to signal information can be
explained by signalling theory whereby brands (senders) use
various cues to communicate product attributes and value
propositions relating to their desired brand image (e.g. healthy,
wholesome) to consumers (receivers) to incite positive
behaviours (Cao and Zhang, 2024) (e.g.purchase, perception).
Despite the obviousimportance of understanding how cues are
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
33/6 (2024) 783–800
© Emerald Publishing Limited [ISSN 1061-0421]
[DOI 10.1108/JPBM-02-2024-4980]
Madison Renee Pasquale is supported by a full Stipend Scholarship through
the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre (CRC). The CRC Program
supports industry-led collaborations between industry, researchers and the
community.
Received 12 February 2024
Revised 16 May 2024
Accepted 16 May 2024
783
used in message encoding, brand management research h as
neglected the influence of cues on packaging design (Celhay
et al.,2020), often examining the impact of packaging on
attitudes and purchase outcomes from the consumer
perspective. This should be remedied as extant research shows
that visual attention is the first in a series of subsequent
processes influencing consumer choice (Mundel et al.,2018),
thus front-of-packaging cues are critical. Whilst considerable
attention (confirmed through eye-tracking) is paidto packaging
cues (Shekhar and Raveendran,2013), insights intohow brands
design packaging for brand management purposes is still
nascent.
Front-of-packaging’s ability to visually communicate a
distinct brand image, attract attention and convey value
propositions in retail environments(including online) is reliant
on the clarity of messages brandsencode into the visual design.
This is primarily achieved through a collection of
complementary visual and verbal cues (Wang, 2013) such as
logos, images and certifications.Research reveals that purchase
decisions are based more on consumers’use of front-of-
packaging cues than objective information on the back of
packaging (Park and Ma, 2019). However, comprehensive
holistic analysis of front-of-packaging in practice has not been
investigated (Vinitha et al.,2021), specifically, what cue types
are used and how brands compose cues on front of packaging
relative to other competing and complementary products.
Considering the emergence of e-commerce and expanded
product lines, a deeper analysis of front-of-packaging design is
crucial for food brand and product management to evolve
within competitive consumer landscapes. Here, numerous
conspicuous and significant gaps exist pertaining to cue
proportion inpackaging design and brand management.
Firstly, whilst numerous front-of-packaging cues have been
examined (see Her
edia-Colaço, 2023;Janssen and Bogaert,
2023), a comprehensive analysis of the types of cues used on
food front-of-packaging has not been undertaken. This limits
understanding of how cues are used in ready-to-eat food
markets to encode brand imagesthat consumers recognize and
correctly decode. Secondly, whilst research examines cue
placement (see Dongand Gleim, 2018;Simmonds et al., 2018)
and the aesthetic elements of packaging (see Dave, 2023;
Magnier and Cri
e, 2015), an overlooked and crucial variableis
the proportion of cues (i.e. relative size) on front-of-packaging.
Not all cues are used equally, nor do theyinfluence consumers
equally. Herein, an important factor is the size of cues relative
to others in the overall front-of-packaging composition –cue
proportion. The limited research examining cue size has
revealed the influence of “serving size”labels (Bucher et al.,
2018) and “product imagery”(McGale et al., 2019;Neyens
et al.,2015). However, insights into which cues are used on
front-of-packaging designs and their relative proportions is
lacking.
Thirdly, although cue analysis has been undertaken, it often
analyses individual cues, out-of-context of the entire
composition (e.g. Ku and Chen, 2023;McGale et al., 2019;
Rybaczewska et al., 2020),or incorporates only a few in a study
(e.g. Abrams et al.,2015;Ku and Chang, 2021). In practice,
front-of-packaging cues communicate collectively within the
entire holistic design composition. For example, numerous
“health cues”work simultaneously to form a visual brand
image that reflects the product’s health attributes. Citing
Gestalt theory, Orth andMalkewitz (2008) consider the overall
effect of packaging to derive from all elementsworking together
as a holistic design greater than the sum of their parts. Herein,
cues may form a collective gestalt that signals an attribute, in
addition to the overall gestalt of the front-of-package. Without
first knowing what cues are used on food front-of-package
design, Gestalt theory cannot be adequately examined.
Moreover, it is illogical toargue that the size of a cue relative to
other cues –its proportion, will not impact the “gestalt”, yet
this has not been examined in productand brand management
research.
Fourthly, despite practical trade-offs that brand managers
face regarding which cues to include on front of packaging,
their sizes and the remaining space for aesthetic elements, no
research has evidenced a hierarchy of cues in front-of-
packaging design. Using cues to communicate a deliberate
visual hierarchy is essential as brand managers must
communicate a clear brand image whilst also capturing
consumer attention to achieve salience in retail settings. Some
research does conclude the existence of hierarchy in packaging
design (Celhay et al.,2020;Orth and Malkewitz, 2008). But,
considering the absence of research into cue proportions,
scholarship can only assume theyare constructed through what
is acknowledged in the literature –i.e. cue placement
(examined by Dong and Gleim, 2018;Simmonds et al., 2018)
or aesthetic elements? What front-of-packaging hierarchies are
evident, using which cues and how they are constructed
through cue proportionremains ignored.
Fifthly, distinct visual brand images are constructed in
consideration of product sub-categories, as signalled through
front-of-packaging cues. These serve as heuristics to simplify
consumer understanding of brand messages and denote
belonging to a category whilst standing out within it. For
example, front-of-packages with high proportions of fruit
graphics may signal “healthy”or“natural”, brand mascots may
signal “children’s food”.Yet research has failed to identify how
belonging to sub-categories is constructedusing a hierarchy of
cues and their associatedproportions.
Finally, from a methodological perspective, research that
experiments with cues (e.g. Neyens et al., 2015)orcreates
fictitious packaging stimuli for analysis (e.g. Schifferstein et al.,
2022)withoutfirst understanding the types of cues used, their
relative proportions, hierarchies of communication and how they
differ across sub-categories, is deficient in ecological validity. In
citing a lack of meaningful guidelines to assist designers with
holistic packaging design for achieving brand management goals,
Orth and Malkewitz (2008) argue for examining packaging
design through more than anecdotal evidence. Herein, a
technical field analysis of food front-of-packaging designs is
conducted to establish the importance of cue proportions and
hierarchies for attracting attention, encoding meaning and
establishing distinct brand images across product sub-categories.
This research commences with a literature review of brand
communication through packaging design, its hierarchical
nature, cue utilization and develops research questions pertaining
to intrinsic and extrinsic cue types, proportion and product
categorization. The methodological approach addresses the
aforementioned gaps through a comprehensive content analysis
of front-of-packaging design for three packaged foods –cereals,
Front-of-packaging cue proportions and hierarchies
Madison Renee Pasquale, Luke Butcher and Min Teah
Journal of Product & Brand Management
Volume 33 · Number 6 · 2024 · 783–800
784
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