Package Graphics and Consumer Product Beliefs

In recent years, marketers' tactics to increase product sales through health claims have been scrutinized by public policy makers. The culmination of this process was the passage of the National Labeling Education Act, which highly restricts the type, amount, and format of nutritional information conveyed on the package. In this investigation, we examine an under-explored aspect of the package—its colors and pictures—to determine what, if any, impact these aspects have on consumer beliefs regarding important product characteristics. We find that even when very concrete verbal information is used, graphical representations have a significant and long-term effect on product beliefs and purchase intentions.