Master’s Thesis
Bottle and logo design effects on purchasing a healthy product
Elli-Maria Papalazarou
Student ID: 10602402
Thesis supervisor: Marijn Meijers
Master program in Communication Science
Graduate School of Communication
Abstract
The present thesis attempted to extent the current literature on visual information processing, by analyzing the effects visual elements can provide for persuasive communication. By means of an online experiment the effects of product shape and logo shape were examined on the purchasing intention towards a healthy product. Specifically round and angular logo and bottle shape combinations were included in the analysis. Following the latest findings on the theory of processing fluency a theoretical framework was developed in which it was assumed that both conceptual and perceptual fluency play a role when people encounter a piece of visual
information. Perceptual fluency was assumed to affect the processing of the visual element itself whereas conceptual fluency was expected to affect the associations evoked by the product. The results revealed no significant influence of the chosen design elements on the dependent variable.
Bottle and logo design effects on purchasing a healthy product
The striving efforts of companies towards creating even more visually interesting-and therefore attention grabbing- products can be observed everywhere around us. Brighter fruit colors, perfume bottles shaped as people’s bodies, and slender mobile phone devices are just but a few examples of this ever growing tendency. There are solid reasons that drive marketers and business professionals into investing a great amount of their resources into the development of the visual aspects of their products, such as Pepsi redesigning its logo for one million US dollars (businessinsider.com). Several studies have indicated that a good product design can be the differentiating factor for improved market performance (Gemser & Leenders, 2001; Roy, 1994; Creusen & Schoormans, 2005). Visual elements, such as logos, can also work as a competitive advantage and lead to the increasing of a company's or brand’s reputation (Baker & Balmer, 1997; Olins, 1989). Therefore, since it is important for companies to distinguish their products and brands from their competitors’, a good product design accompanied by an effective logo can help them improve their financial and marketing results.
Designers have to take difficult decisions regarding the characteristics of a product form (Kellaris & Kent, 1993) and in many cases a product logo is chosen by the marketing manager, since companies hesitate to leave a decision which requires a deep understanding of the goals and culture of a firm to the design team (Siegel, 1989). Since the design of consumer products becomes more elaborate and complicated over time, there is a definite need for analyses of the various marketing effects for combined product design elements such as logos and product shapes.
So far, scientific literature has provided no results and solutions on the topic of combined logo and product shape on consumer preferences, while it focuses more on the analysis of the
effects of various logo types and product packaging shapes separately (Fang & Mowen, 2005; Wang & Chou, 2011; van Rompay, Pruyn & Tieke, 2009). The present study tries to provide an insight into the effects of this combination by means of an experiment and by focusing
specifically on the category of healthy products. The combination of the two design elements will be explored from a congruency point of view, that is, how the two visuals will be perceived as in fit to each other by consumers. This perception is assumed by the researcher to be
happening in a non-conscious way. It is expected that a congruent combination of the two visual elements will be received more favorably by consumers and that will lead to an increased preference for the product.
Considerations over the healthy aspects of products play an ever important role in comsumers’choice. Therefore it important to discover those product design combinations that will work the best towards this direction, not only for improving marketing sales figures, but above all for improving people’s health by helping them to choose for healthier products. Concluding, the present thesis research question is concerned with how the congruency of the two design forms of the logo and shape for a healthy product will affect the consumers
purchasing decision for it.
Theoretical Framework Product design and elements
Throughout history, people have always created smart and elaborate objects, whether these served for everyday use, decoration, or as a way to improve the functioning of human relations through their exchange (Gosden & Marshall, 1999). It is interesting to notice how people creating objects, like designers or carpenters pay attention not only to the functional aspects of the products they create but to the aesthetic elements these display as well. The
reasons behind this can be tracked down on the literature on aesthetics and consumer research. Dion et al.(1972 ) have found that individuals associated with socially desirable personality traits were the ones that were physically also more attractive, or as they summarized in their findings “what is beautiful is good” (p. 285). Research in experimental aesthetics has found that aesthetic ratings across subjects are very consistent with one another (Berlyne, 1971), which suggests that beauty estimation standards are widely shared within the same culture.
The estimation of physical attractiveness and subsequent generation of positive
evaluations for the object has been also explored in the area of consumer research (Bloch, 1995; Seva, Duh & Helander; 2007). For instance, product form has been suggested to play a major role in product approach and avoidance behavior in consumers, by driving cognitive and
affective psychological responses, which in turn drive behavioral responses (Bloch, 1995). After purchasing a product with a pleasing form, consumers display it prominently more often (Belk 1988; Bloch, 1995). For instance, a consumer may position an attractive new food processor visibly on a kitchen counter (Bloch, 1995). In a marketing communication setting, the emotion the design of a product evokes can persuade consumers to buy it (Seva et al, 2007). The width of the body of a phone, for example, significantly affects feelings of consumer contentment (Seva et al, 2007). Therefore, we can conclude that visual characteristics such as length, height or color are comparatively evaluated and subsequently some of them can lead to an increased preference for the objects that carry them.
The above findings suggest also that consumers are not driven simply by economic or brand awareness factors when choosing for a product, but also the associations aesthetic
elements evoke play a role. Indeed, one important stream of consumer research, namely the “experiential view”, distinguished consumers from their earlier position as simple “buyers”, and
recognized that “fantasies, feelings and fun” are also important aspects of the purchasing experience (Holbrook & Hirshmann, 1982). The form (or design) of a product includes a
number of elements which are chosen by the design team to achieve a particular consumer effect. These elements can be, for example, the shape, scale, color, materials, reflectiveness, texture, or logo of the product (Kellaris & Kent, 1993). It has been thoroughly established in research that these elements evoke symbolic associations in the minds of consumers (Bloch, 1995; Childers & Jass, 2002; Van Rompay, et al., 2005; Zhang, et al. 2006). In order to be able to understand the underlying mechanics influencing the effects of interaction between the two form elements in focus here (i.e., logo and shape), it is necessary first to explore the topic of symbolism in products.
Symbolism in products
Symbolic meanings reflect the product properties recognized by consumers that are not literary part of the product experience (Blank et al., 1984). This means that some product properties are functional, like for instance the “teeth” of a knife which can cut on something, whereas others are symbolic, like a picture on the knifes’ blade showing a shark, depicting therefore the knife’s increased ability for cutting. From a brand communication perspective, these meanings reflect symbolic brand or product characteristics that shape a brand's or products’ character or personality (Aaker, 1997). For example, in a study by Bhat and Reddy (1998) Nike was perceived as being functional, prestigious, and expressive. In brand research specifically it is generally accepted that a brands relies on its symbolic meanings or connotations as these are conveyed through advertising symbols (Dungee & Stuart, 1987).
Research recognizes also that one way to identify a brand is through the product’s design (Schmitt & Simonson, 1997). For instance, many people can recognize immediately the
characteristic puma logo of the sport brand Puma. Nevertheless, product shape and logo are assumed to go beyond their brand identification role and are expected to infer symbolic brand and product meanings to consumers according to research in symbolism (Creusen &
Schoormans, 2005, Westerman et al.2012).
Product/logo shape and symbolism. The packaging of a product can manipulate consumer decision to buy it due to its symbolic or aesthetic qualities (Creusen & Schoormans, 2005).Consider, for instance, the elegant appearance of a Chanel perfume bottle. A consumer who considers him or herself as elegant or wants to add this characteristic to his or her personality will probably choose that over a “rough” looking design. Other times, consumers choose to rely on product packaging due to lack of other relevant product information. For instance, product packaging can allow consumers to draw inferences about the products’ attributes or even in the case of foods and beverages about its taste (Becker et al., 2011).
Literature has provided many answers on the topic of shape symbolism. Based on the investigation of fundamental forms like angular or round shapes, it has been found for instance that circular shapes like sphere or circles are associated with being warm or soft (Liu, 1997) whereas angular shapes are associated with representing a conflict of the stimulus with its surroundings (Berlyne, 1976). Specifically, regarding the shapes of consumer’s products Westerman et al. (2013) have found that consumers show a preference for rounded objects instead of angular ones. This preference for rounded forms is justified according to the authors to a natural fear response to angular forms, which in nature they usually represent some form of threat (Bar & Neta, 2006; 2007) .Many objects in nature that represent some form of danger in terms of inflicting possible damage to a person are angular, like for instance thorns in a bush or sharp objects in general. Also in a study by Aronoff, Barclay and Stevenson (1988), on
participants’ responses to abstract facial representations it was found that abstract angular facial expressions due to the indication of the presence of a threat, according to the previously
mentioned justification, were evaluated less positively as opposed to rounded shapes which indicated the absence of a threat.
As the present thesis is concerned with the category of healthy products, it is also important to refer to shapes that reflect the concept of naturalness. Kress and van Leeuwen (1996) suggest that square and angular shapes are perceived as “elements of the mechanical and technological order, of the world of human construction” (p. 52). Round shapes instead, like circles, squares and triangles, are the elements associated with “an organic and natural order, with the world of organic nature” (p.53). It is therefore expected that an angular shape will be perceived as an artificial, “man-made” object, whereas a rounded object will be perceived as expressing naturalness, therefore also healthiness.
Just as a products’ shape conveys a certain meaning, a logo’s shape may similarly suggest a certain meaning. A logo is defined as the “official representation of a corporate or brand name” (Schechter, 1993). The advertising logo is typically a graphical element, accompanied by text or standing alone, that a company uses for its identification or the identification of a particular brand (Henderson & Cote, 1998). It has been proven that the logo serves as a vehicle for capturing attention and conveying meaning (Hagtvedt, 2001), and the transfer of evaluations from a logo to the company and/or brand it represents, is supported (Schechter, 1993). Zhang et al. (2006) showed that rounded logos are readily perceived as harmonious and gentle, whereas angular logos trigger associations with conflict and aggressiveness. According to Kress and van Leeuwen (1996), as described in the previous paragraph, in this case also rounded logos will be perceived as natural and healthy, whereas angular ones as artificial.
Congruency and processing fluency
Congruency. In order to further explore the main thesis question of how the interaction of the design of a logo and product shape will influence the purchasing decision for a healthy product, it is necessary to refer also to the concept of congruency. Specifically, the concept of (in)congruency refers to the (mis)matching between the characteristics of two stimuli (e.g., product shape and logo). Previous research on stimulus congruence with respect to product design has found that perceived unity between the different stimuli has a significant positive effect on aesthetic responses (Bloch, 1995). With regards to symbolic meanings, congruence among stimuli has been found to positively influence brand and product evaluations. For example when a bottle, with a shape that elicited natural impressions, was paired with a slogan that elicited natural impressions, it was perceived more favorably than a bottle which shape and slogan impressions were incongruent (van Rompay et al, 2009). Symbolic congruence has also been proven to influence brand perceptions where symbolically congruent stimuli caused positive differences in brand credibility and judgments of brand aesthetics, compared to
incongruent stimuli (van Rompay & Pruyn, 2011). The question that rises at this point in regard to this thesis main research topic is how the concept of congruency is processed at the minds of consumers. In order to explore that, it is necessary to refer to the theory of processing fluency.
Processing fluency. When consumers are presented with a new product they often evaluate it positively without recognizing the reasons behind this (Berger & Fitzimons, 2008). This positive evaluation is actually a result of prior exposure to the same or similar stimuli ((Bornstein & D'Agostino, 1992, 1994). According to the processing fluency model previous exposure to a stimulus makes the stimulus easier to perceive, encode, and process at a later time (Bornstein & D'Agostino, 1992, 1994). So, for example, according to Klinger and Greenwald
(1994) if a person is in a context where they have to make a choice for a product, and experience has taught them that easily processed stimuli are more liked, then the person will attribute this easiness in processing (fluency) the stimulus to a liking for the product. Therefore, stimuli that are easily processed will evoke positive affect, which transfers to the stimuli carrier (the product), subsequently resulting in favorable product evaluations (Reber, Schwarz & Winkielman, 2004). These workings which are attributed to fluency require no conscious elaboration, thus they happen implicitly (Bornstein & D’Agostino 1992; Jacoby, et al. 1989). Literature in implicit memory research has provided evidence that fluency may be both conceptual and perceptual in nature (Tulvig & Schacter, 1990).
Perceptual fluency represents the ease with which consumers can identify a target stimulus on subsequent encounters and involves the processing of physical features such as shape (Jacoby & Dallas, 1981). Mandler et al. (1987) suggest that perceptual fluency will
influence any judgment that depends on one’s reaction to the features of a stimulus. For example, many variables that facilitate perceptual processing of the stimulus will enhance liking of the target (Reber et al. 2004; Schwarz 2004). Perceptual fluency has been proposed specifically to be enhanced by presentation variables such as figure-ground contrast, visual clarity, and good form within a single exposure (Reber et al. 2004). Regarding the amount of visual information a stimulus exhibits, Garner (1974) found that judgments of figural goodness were higher the less information people had to extract from a stimulus to perceive it. That means that an object which contains visual stimuli with a great amount of information to be processed and/or this amount of information is complicated to process will be less liked. For instance people choose consistently symmetric shapes instead of asymmetric but otherwise identical shapes, due to the less amount of information the first exhibit (Garner, 1974).
Conceptual fluency is defined similarly to perceptual fluency, only at this case the fluency reflects the ease of processing the meaning of a stimulus, or the fluency of conceptually driven processing (Whittlesea, 1993). So the two fluency types differ in that perceptual fluency is connected to the processing of the physical and visual attributes of the stimulus whereas
conceptual fluency is connected to the processing of the meaning the stimulus characteristics evoke. Conceptual fluency can be created in various ways, such as presentation of a
semantically-equivalent item (e.g. broad-wide), or a semantically-related item (e.g., sugar-sweet; Lee and Labroo 2004). To give an example, Lee and Labroo (2004), created two experiments where in the first one the target appeared in a predictive context (a bottle of beer after pictures that show a man entering a bar) and in the second the target was primed by a related construct (an image of a ketchup bottle after a sequence of images showing a woman in the supermarket and a cornflakes box). They showed that when a target comes to mind more readily and becomes conceptually fluent, as in these two ways, participants as a result of increased conceptual fluency will develop more favorable attitudes towards the target and therefore towards the product. On the other hand, in the low conceptual fluency conditions the sequence of images in the example referred above with the woman in the supermarket and the cornflakes box was followed by an image of pills.In the first experiment the images showing the man entering the bar were followed by a mug. These unrelated constructs and non-predictive to the target stimuli, lead to lower evaluations towards the target product.
Development of hypotheses
As this thesis paper pays attention to the category of healthy products I assume that the consumer need in focus will be to purchase a product that is perceived as natural. The product and logo shape combinations that will be examined are angular and rounded shapes, as these are
expected to infer unnatural and natural associations accordingly, as it was explained earlier. The effects of the combined logo and product shape variations on consumers’ perceptions, and subsequently on their purchasing decisions are according to the previous chapters based on two perspectives. The first perspective is that of perceptual fluency rising from the processing of the product’s stimuli. As it was previously mentioned, perceptual fluency is proven to be enhanced by good form within a single exposure (Reber et al. 2004). Also the less difficult the visual information the consumers are processing, the more the product is going to be evaluated in a positive way (Garner, 1974). Therefore in the case of having similar logo and product shape (angular/angular or round/round) perceptual fluency will increase overall. This easiness in the processing of the stimuli will be translated into an increased likeness for the product according to the processing fluency model (Reber, Schwarz & Winkielman, 2004). However, it is expected that the combination of the angular logo and the angular product shape will be less positively evaluated compared to the rounded one, due to the proven aversion to angular shapes (Bar & Neta, 2006; 2007). The combinations of angular and rounded logos and product shapes are expected to be less positively evaluated than the angular/angular combination since they will be perceived as containing too much and therefore it will be more difficult to process visual information, decreasing the likelihood of processing fluency.
The second perspective is that of conceptual fluency. On a symbolic level, I expect the products’ or logos shape to evoke or not the concept of “naturalness”. As it was previously mentioned on the chapter of product symbolism, angular shapes are perceived as man-made, therefore as being unnatural. Rounded objects are in contrast perceived as natural or pure. The combination of the two rounded shapes therefore (rounded logo and product shape) will be perceived to be congruent and conceptually “natural”. As shown by Lee and Labroo (2004)
likeness for this combination will be enhanced as the creation of a unified semantically-equivalent item to the target (here naturalness) leads to an increase in conceptual fluency.
Regarding the rounded/angular logo and shape combinations, these will not lead to an increase in the conceptual processing of the product, since the target consumer need will not be semantically equivalent or related to the concept the overall product design will evoke. They will therefore not lead to a preference for the product. Accordingly the angular logo and product combination will not evoke also the concept of naturalness and therefore will not increase the preference for the product.
However, consumers seem to differ in their “tolerance for ambiguity”, a phenomenon described in social psychology as the “personal need for structure” (Neuberg & Newsom, 1993). People with a high need for structure, enjoy certainty and predictability, whereas they dislike ill-structured and ambiguous situations. In an experimental study by Van Rompay et al. (2009), (in)congruence was studied between advertising slogan and product shape, with respect to consumers’ (in)tolerance for ambiguity. It was found that consumers with low tolerance for ambiguity showed significant aversion to incongruities. It is expected that personal need for structure will affect the observed results for the two stimuli interaction, with the incongruent combinations of round and angular shapes to be less liked, whereas the same shaped
combinations will be more liked.
Combining the above analyses the following hypotheses are developed:
H1. A round/round logo and shape combination, will be conceptually and perceptually more fluent than a round/angular or angular/angular one for a healthy product. This will lead to an increased preference and subsequent greater purchasing intention for this combination
compared to the others. This effect will be enhanced for people who score high in personal need for structure.
H2. An angular/angular logo and shape combination will be perceptually more fluent than a round/angular one but less than the round/round combination for a healthy product. This will lead to an increased preference and subsequent higher purchase intention for this combination compared to the angular/rounded one. This effect will be enhanced for people who score high in personal need for structure.
Methodological framework
The present study used a 2( Bottle shape : angular/round) x 2(Logo Shape:
angular/round) with personal need for structure as a covariate between subjects design. As it was explained previously on the theoretical section, the focus of this thesis lays on the category of natural products. A smoothie is a beverage consisting of a mix of blended fresh fruit and vegetables, which sometimes might include other ingredients such as ice or yogurt. As the core concept behind a smoothie is making a juice pulp out of natural ingredients in order to produce it, and as this naturalness concept is obvious also in all smoothies’ advertising copy, we can safely say that they indeed represent a natural and therefore healthy product. Smoothies are mainly placed in bottles when they are prepared for mass production, as it happens with smoothies that appear on the fridges of supermarkets. Therefore, the choice for the two visual stimuli of the experiment will be the shape and logo appearing on a smoothie bottle.
In connection to the hypotheses and in order to ensure that the angular/rounded forms do indeed infer the predicted notions of naturalness/unnaturalness to the participants of the
experiment, four visual stimuli were designed. One rounded shaped bottle with angular logo, one rounded shaped bottle with rounded logo, one angular shaped bottle with angular logo and one
angular shaped bottle with angular logo(see Appendix A, Figure 1). The four visual stimuli differed only in the shapes of the logos and bottles between them, otherwise their colors, brand type font, brand name and closing lid shape were completely the same across all four conditions. The four visual stimuli were subsequently used in the experiment described as it follows.
Method
Two versions –online and offline- of the same experiment were created. The first online version was created by using the online survey software tool of Qualtrics. The four visual stimuli were used for the manipulation of the concept of naturalness or unnaturalness, as well as the perceived congruency between the two elements. Specifically four experimental groups were created where in each one a different version of the bottle was assigned. Also, in order to increase the total amount of participants of the experiment, this was translated in Greek (the mother tongue of the researcher) and was presented in an offline fashion. Special attention was paid so that the translation of the experimental instructions and subsequent questions would be as precise as possible, but at the same time would not provide a meaningless translation in Greek. In this case of the offline experiment the participants were presented with the instructions, visual stimuli and survey questions in exactly the same order as in the online one.
Participants
In total the experiment had 160 participants (Mage = 31.9, SD = 9.5 , 63% female)). Hundred thirty two participants were recruited in the online version whereas in the offline version the participants reached the number of 27. In the online experiment, participants were recruited via sending Facebook private messages. A text asking them to participate in a survey describing the time that the completion of it would approximately take was presented to them and underneath the link that lead to the experiment. It appeared nowhere in this descriptive text
that an experiment would follow, therefore participants had no indication of the manipulation at that point. On the offline version participants were simply invited in a room and given a printed version of the experiment.
Procedure
Initially the following instructions appeared “On the next page you will see a picture of a smoothie. Imagine the following scenario: you are in the supermarket and you intend to buy one. You go to the fridge section where you see the smoothie appearing in the picture. You can look at the smoothie for as long as you want.” The first group was then presented with the angular logo angular bottle combination, the second group with the angular logo round bottle shape, the third group with the round logo round bottle shape, and finally the fourth group with the round logo angular bottle shape combination. The questions that followed regarding the variables presented further were the same for each of the fourth groups.
Variables
Purchase intention (Dependent variable). The intention of participants to buy the smoothie version shown to them was measured using a 6 item 7 point scale. Participants had to state how much they thought they thought it was likely for them to buy the smoothie shown, if they were in the supermarket the same day. Participants could choose one of the seven points to state how much they thought that was unlikely/likely, improbable/probable, impossible/possible to happen. A principal component analysis (PCA) shows that the 3 items formed a single uni-dimensional scale: only one component had an eigenvalue above 1 (EV=2.58, R2=.86). All items correlated positively with the first component, the variable "If I was in the supermarket today it would be very unlikely/likely to buy the product shown before" which had the strongest
1.56. Therefore, it appears that the scale indeed measured increased possibility to buy the product.
Personal need for structure (PNS) (Covariate). Personal need for structure (PNS) of the participants was measured using a 12 item 5 point scale. This scale was originally developed by Neuberg & Newsom (1993). Participants had to state how much the agreed or disagreed with statements which indicated their need for structure such as “I enjoy having a clear and structured mode of life”, “I hate to change my plans at the last minute”, or “I become uncomfortable when the rules in a situation are not clear”. Participants could choose one of the five points to state how much they disagreed or agreed with the statement. A principal component analysis (PCA) shows that the 3 items formed a single uni-dimensional scale: only one component had an eigenvalue above 1 (EV=3.86, R2 =.32). All items correlated positively with the first component, the variable "It upsets me to go into a situation without knowing what I can expect from it” which had the strongest association (factor loading is .72). Reliability of the scale was very good, a = .79, M= 3.11, SD= .52. Therefore, it appears that the scale indeed measured increased personal need for structure.
Participants’ comments
Participants were faced with the question at the end of the survey “What do you think this survey was about?” Many of them commented that they were aware that the survey had
something to do with the visual appearance of the product. However, they weren’t able to depict what exactly the manipulation was, or that there was a manipulation at all. Their comments showed that they had a more general idea about the actual purpose of the study, and this although it was connected to the image of the product, was not however specifically thought upon during
the completion of the survey. The rest of the comments were irrelevant to the actual purpose of the study.
Results Control variables results
Age. The control variable of age was found to have no association with the dependent variable of purchase intention, r = -.02, p = .715. Also there was no significant difference among the four groups regarding this control variable, F(3, 157) = 0.36, p= .783. These results show that age did not play a role in the purchasing intentions of the participants for the smoothie or its distribution would not be responsible for any observed results. Therefore the variable of age was not taken into account further into the analysis of the results.
Gender. The control variable of gender was found to have a weak association with the dependent variable of purchase intention, r =.11, p=.146. There was no significant difference among the four groups regarding this control variable, F(3, 157) = 0.95, p = .418. These results show that the variable of sex did not affect the variable of purchasing intention, and also its distribution among the four groups would not be responsible for any observed effects. Therefore the variable of sex was not taken into account for the analysis of the hypotheses.
Environment. There was a significant difference in the purchasing intentions of people who participated in the experiment in the online version (M = 3.16, SD = 5.44) and those in the offline version (M = 3.86, SD = 1.54), t(27)= 30.741, p < .001. The environment in which the experiment took place appeared to possibly play a role on the dependent variable of purchasing intention, therefore it was included into the further analyses.
Purchase intention. Using the method of ANCOVA it was revealed that no significant main effects were present on the relationship between logo and bottle design and purchase intention, F(1,157) =0.11, p =.92. Logo shape did not have any significant effect separately on purchase intention F(1,157)=1.87, p =.173. Also, bottle shape did not induce any significant effects on the purchase intentions of participants, F(1, 157) = 1.25, p = .265. Having participated on the experiment either on the offline or online version, did not also play a role on purchase intentions, F(1,157) = .01, p= 964. Finally, personal need for structure (PNS) did not play a role on the purchasing intentions of participants either, F(1,157) = .17, p = .675. Therefore, it was concluded that hypotheses H1. and H2. are completely rejected.
Table 1Mean and standard errors of bottle and logo combinations
Bottle shape Logo shape Mean Standard Error
Round Round 3.566 .253
Round Square 3.889 .258
Square Round 3.828 .251
Square Square 4.203 .254
Discussion
According to the results found, increased purchase intention for the brand based on a specific logo and product shape cannot be proven. Logo shape and bottle shape either separately or their interaction are not responsible for an increased or decreased intention to purchase the smoothie. Also, personal need for structure did not appear to contribute to the variation for the results in purchase intention. These results are in contrast to previous similar research such as
this by van Rompay, Pruyn and Tieke (2011), who found that congruity between a natural product shape and a text that evoked natural associations led to better product evaluations.
The online experiment created by the researcher had some strong points which will be discussed here. The first point is the resemblance of the image of the smoothie bottle to an actual purchasing item. As it would happen in a real life consuming situation, a real bottle picture was presented. A realistic stimulus material is important because participants can judge it in a similar way as they would do for a real product in a similar purchasing moment. The second point in which the online experiment was strong it was the sufficient allocated time participants had to process the smoothie bottle. This is also in accordance to a real life situation, as people who go to buy a smoothie in a supermarket have enough time to look at it and later decide whether they will purchase it or not.
The reasons that did not lead to the confirmation of the hypotheses of the present research paper can be attributed to various factors. According to the researcher, these mainly rest to the development of the stimuli material and the conditions under which the experiment took place. First of all, although the smoothie picture was as realistic as possible, still missed some of the elements that a real life smoothie product would have as informational text or more elaborate graphic elements. Of course, since the purpose of the experiment was to test only the logo and shape of the product, no more graphics could be added. This could have though possibly played a role in participants’ reactions to the image, since most products are characteristically complex in appearance. Regarding the appearance of the smoothies another important aspect which, might have played a role on participants ‘responses, is the perceived “angularity”or “roundness”of the smoothie bottle and logo. It was assumed that since the appearance of the smoothies on a screen would be two-dimensional the angular and round appearance of the shapes would be
exaggerated, making therefore the shapes be perceived as it was intended for the purposes of the research. However this might not have been the case. For instance the angular logo could still possibly be perceived as having “rounded edges” or the square bottle could be perceived as being still “rounded” since bottles are usually cylindrical and participants might have assumed from previous experience that this was actually the shape. Another weak point of this research was the inconsistent environmental conditions in which the experiment took place. Although, the instructions to focus on the smoothie picture were clear, it was indicated by the time some participants took to finish the survey, that they were possibly focused on other activities at the same time. Although one might argue that this is indeed the case also in a purchasing condition situation, as in a store, still, the influence of other activities the participants were might be having at the same time (such as watching a music video), might have played a role. The inconsistency of the experimental procedure was revealed also by the significant difference on the purchasing intentions of those that took part online or offline on the experiment. Therefore, the inability to strictly control the conditions under which the experiment was displayed has been possibly an influencing to the results factor. Finally, and maybe most importantly, the realization by the majority of the participants that the survey was about the evaluation of the visual presentation of a product, might have played a significant role in the consideration for the product and their responses to the dependent and independent variables.
Based on the above remarks about the strong and weak points of this research, some suggestions for future researchers interested on the topic can be made. First, the topic should be better approached by adding into the analyses also other design elements’ potential influence, so that the stimuli material will resemble more products encountered in real life. Also the
similar to a realistic purchase environment, and also as consistent as possible Additionally it would important for participants in future experiments to be less aware about the general purpose of the study. Finally, even though healthy drinks represent an increasingly interesting product category for both professionals and consumers, it would be important to generalize the research on the influence of visual elements on consumer decisions to other product categories as well, like for instance unhealthy products, or children’s toys.
The interest and complexity visual information presents but also the beauty it has is a topic of utter significance that affects our lives in numerous ways. It is of great importance for future research to provide more concrete answers that will lead to a better development of persuasion materials for health, safety, marketing and cultural purposes. The present research tried to provide an elaborate theoretical framework and methodological approach that will potentially assist on the academic and professional endeavors of those interested in the topic.
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Appendix A
Figure 1
Bottle and logo shapes
Round bottle-Angular logo Round bottle-Round logo
