Implicit communication of food product healthfulness through package design: A content analysis

How do food companies use package design to communicate healthfulness? The present study addresses this question by investigating the most typical implicit package design elements used by food companies for their health‐positioned food products. Using a content analysis on the packaging design of 12 food product categories across two countries (Denmark and the United States), our findings indicate that (a) implicit package design elements (colors, imagery, material, and shape) differ between health‐positioned and regular products, and (b) these differences are product category specific rather than universal. Our results contribute to knowledge on how package design is used as a health communication tool.