Package design attributes and consumer expectation of healthines: A review

During the last few years it has been observed that several trends have been changed in food consumption. The working patterns, the increased employment of women, the lack of time, the income growth and several other factors led to the trend for fast food, convenience foods and the packed food. The distance between the production of raw material and food consumption has made consumers to feel more or less insecure and suspicious for what they eat. This fact leads to a new trend in food consumption, the trend for a healthy diet. As the factor “health” has become very important for the diet of modern consumers, food companies are asked to meet this need in case of packed food. Food Companies now, have to pass to the consumers the message of how healthy is their food product. Means to communicate this message is the food package itself. Packing is a communication tool providing details about the product including price, contents, ingredients and nutritional value as well as cooking instructions and recommended use by dates. The aim of the of the communication functions of packing is to inform the consumers about the product it contains and assist them in making their decisions carefully.

The study aims to examine if different nonverbal attributes of food and beverage packages affects consumers expectations of food and beverages product healthiness.