Resumen de Online snacks shopping: the influence of packaging design in product expectations

Diana Gavilán Bouzas, Susana Fernández Lores

• The growth of online food shopping along with the increasing interest of consumers in adopting healthy eating habits highlights the need to deepen the decision-making process in the online purchase of healthy food. The aim of this paper is to analyze the impact of extrinsic cues –packaging background color and ingredients description– on consumers’ sensory and hedonic expectations of healthy snacks and consequently on purchase intention. The moderating role of consumer design sensitivity has been taken into consideration. For this purpose, a 2x2 full factorial online experiment was conducted with a sample (N = 221) of Spanish consumers recruited through social media. The results partially supported the hypotheses stated. Results show that in the healthy snack category, extrinsic cues can create expectations about what the product consumption experience will be like. These expectations contribute to stimulate purchase intention. In some cases, consumer’s design sensitivity can be considered a moderating factor in the shaping of sensory expectations emerging from packaging. This study helps us to understand the decision-making process in the online purchase of certain food items by focusing on the product exhibition during the search stage. It also discusses managerial implications addressed to healthy snacks firms about packaging design when selling online. The study stresses the usefulness of sensory research as a necessary tool to support the marketing of online products.