Perception of Luxury and Product Quality in Package Design: Examining the Effects of White Space, Typeface, and Visual Texture

Abstract

As consumers gravitate toward luxury brands, marketers face the challenge of conveying perceptions of luxury through package design. This study focused on packaging that only displays the brand logo. Using chocolate, we investigated the impact of packaging design elements on consumers' perceptions of luxury and product quality. We employed a 2 (white space: large, small) × 2 (typeface: luxurious, casual) × 2 (visual texture: luxurious, casual) between-participants design, exposing 1193 participants to one of eight package designs. Large white spaces and luxurious typefaces enhanced perceived luxury and product quality, respectively. Luxurious visual texture enhanced luxury perception and product quality evaluation when paired with casual typefaces, but not with luxurious typefaces. Thus, the boundary conditions for the effect of visual texture may depend on the typeface. Our findings contribute to the literature on luxury perception and package design and provide practical implications for brands that want to enhance the appeal of their brands/products.