Willingness to pay for traditional ready-to-eat food packaging: examining the interplay between shape, font and slogan
Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics
ISSN: 1355-5855
Article publication date: 19 October 2021
Issue publication date: 16 August 2022
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how to design traditional ready-to-eat food packaging by manipulating its shape, font and slogan to promote consumer buying intention and willingness to pay (WTP).
Design/methodology/approach
Two package designs, interplaying the square shapes (vertical vs horizontal), font formality (formal vs less formal/casual) and slogans (ethno-positioning vs short and catchy), were created and tested in an online experiment with 483 participants.
Findings
The results revealed that the differed package designs elicited relatively equal levels of attractiveness to consumers and their buying intentions. However, the designs significantly differentiated consumers' WTP. The results further show the significant direct and indirect effects on WTP of packaging attractiveness when it is moderated by package designs and mediated by buying intention. However, the varied package designs did not have significant direct or indirect impacts on WTP when mediated by packaging attractiveness and buying intention.
Practical implications
The vertical square-shaped packaging, written in a less formal font and highlighting a short and catchy slogan, is more financially promising for marketers to get a better price for local food products perceived as hedonic and bought impulsively on casual occasions. Furthermore, besides prominent package design elements such as font, color, size, material and picture, packaging designers or marketing practitioners should consider other supporting factors, such as shelf efficiency.
Originality/value
This study complements existing studies of “cue utilization theory” and “packaging design theory” by demonstrating the importance of extrinsic packaging cues, such as shape, font style and slogan, in improving consumers' WTP for traditional food products. The study also fills some gaps in the literature by exploring the direct, mediating and moderating relationships between package design, packaging attractiveness, buying intention and WTP, especially in an emerging market such as Indonesia.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This research was funded by Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of Republic of Indonesia.
Citation
Suci, A., Maryanti, S., Hardi, H. and Sudiar, N. (2022), "Willingness to pay for traditional ready-to-eat food packaging: examining the interplay between shape, font and slogan", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 34 No. 8, pp. 1614-1633. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-04-2021-0233
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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