ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Sustain. Food Syst.
Sec. Agricultural and Food Economics
Volume 9 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fsufs.2025.1512655
Angular vs Circular: The Role of Shapes on Food Packaging Graphics in Purchase Intentions, Perceived Healthiness, and Self-Construal
Provisionally accepted
- 1Guangxi University, Nanning, China
- 2Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan, Hubei Province, China
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This paper explores the impact of shapes on food packaging graphics (SFPG) in purchase intentions. Although existing literature primarily explores the cross-modal associations between SFPG and other sensory modalities (such as taste and smell), the exploration of the impact of SFPG alone is limited. Through three experiments, this study examined the impact of SFPG on perceived healthiness and consumer purchase intentions. The results showed that angular (vs. circular) SFPG enhances purchase intentions (Experiment 1). Moreover, the perceived healthiness of food mediates this effect (Experiment 2). Furthermore, self-construal moderates the impact of SFPG on purchase intentions (Experiment 3). Specifically, for individuals with independent selfconstrual, angular SFPG enhances food purchase intentions, whereas for those with interdependent self-construal, circular SFPG enhances food purchase intentions (Experiment 3). Additionally, the study rules out alternative explanations of visual salience. These findings not only provide a fresh perspective for understanding consumer behavior but also offer valuable insights for economic decisions in packaging design for food companies. They help businesses better position their products in the market and attract their target consumers.
Keywords: Food, Shapes, Perceived healthiness, Self-construal, packaging design
Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Liang, Li, Qin, Zhang, Li and Zhu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Qiuju Qin, Guangxi University, Nanning, China
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