Current Topic: Conversion

It’s early morning and you’re having your first coffee. Not too strong, not too weak. Just as you like it. You feel energized. Ten minutes later you’re on your laptop checking your emails and your social media. You decide to look at your Amazon account and see if your favourite coffee table is still available. Yes, it is, and it now includes free shipping! Add to cart. You’re now recommended luxury scented candles to match the table design. As well as beautiful decor items such as a chic lamp, a stylish vase and a set of artificial plants in pots that are way too expensive (even if water-wise)! Not a planned shopping spree, but you feel compelled to get them all. OK, done! Just four days until they’re shipped!

Wait, how did this happen? Did your coffee have anything to do with it? And if so, is coffee capable of making me shop more every time I have a cup of it?

If you're a food lover, chances are you've been lured by a mouth-watering package design at least once. But did you know that the shape and color of packaging can also affect your perception of taste? The days where the sole purpose of a product’s packaging was to protect its content are over. As visual creatures, we often base our purchase decisions on the visual appearance of products. That’s why packaging plays a key role in setting product-related expectations. Packaging design can communicate a product's quality, value, and taste, which can influence consumers' purchasing decisions.

But how exactly can packaging design influence our taste expectations of food and beverage products?

When ordering food online, the number of unhealthy food cues seems endless. Not only the food itself but also food-related words and pictorial representations stimulate unhealthy dietary behaviors. And that while eating-behavior-related disorders are only increasing in the western world. Therefore, governments started public health campaigns and educational programmes to promote healthier food choices. Nevertheless, with little success.

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in using behavioral economics principles to "nudge" individuals towards making healthier and more sustainable choices. One area where these nudges may be particularly effective is in reducing food waste and increasing vegetable intake.

Maybe it’s just me, but the food labels communicating the  amount of calories on the back of food packages don't always speak to me. Don’t get me wrong, when I see a label stating “840 kcal” on the back of my nicely smelling pizza, it does hurt a bit. But, anything less than those extremes is hard to grasp for me, and the lazy person I am, I tend to skip this information instead of going online to find out what it exactly means.