Packaging as a Cue: Exploring Bold vs. Muted Styles in Dutch and German Snack Consumption

In saturated consumer markets, product packaging plays a crucial role in influencing consumer behaviour at the point of sale. While colour has long been recognized as a powerful packaging element, less is known about how broader visual packaging styles, such as bold versus muted designs, affect consumer responses, particularly across cultural contexts. This thesis examines how packaging style influences consumer evaluations of unhealthy snack products, and whether these effects vary between Dutch and German consumers, who differ in levels of uncertainty avoidance. Grounded in Cue Utilization Theory (Easterbrook, 1959), which suggests that consumers rely on extrinsic cues when intrinsic product information is unavailable, this study investigates how bold (bright, high- contrast) versus muted (soft, low-contrast) packaging styles influence four key responses: purchase intention, perceived reliability, perceived excitement, and perceived attractiveness. It also tests whether nationality and uncertainty avoidance moderate these effects, and whether consumer perceptions mediate the relationship between packaging style and purchase intention. The study employed a 2 (packaging style: bold vs. muted) × 2 (nationality: Dutch vs. German) between-subjects experimental design, with a total sample of 215 participants. Respondents were randomly assigned to view one packaging condition and completed a survey measuring their reactions using established Likert-type scales. The experiment included manipulation checks and was preceded by a pretest to ensure clarity of stimuli. The results show that packaging style significantly influences consumer responses. Muted packaging leads to higher purchase intentions and perceived reliability, while bold packaging increases perceived excitement. Perceived attractiveness does not differ significantly between conditions. A mediation analysis revealed that perceived reliability partially mediates the effect of packaging style on purchase intention. However, no significant interaction effects were found for nationality or uncertainty avoidance, which suggests that these cultural factors do not moderate consumer responses to packaging. These findings contribute to the literature by demonstrating that heuristic visual cues in packaging have a measurable impact on consumer decision-making, even when no product information is available and that these effects may be more universally shared than culturally specific. The lack of moderation by nationality and uncertainty avoidance suggests that consumers may respond similarly to packaging styles across cultures in low- involvement product categories. However, these responses may be influenced by subjective and culturally shaped perceptions that this study did not measure. The study provides practical insights for marketers and designers, particularly in competitive markets such as the Netherlands and Germany. It suggests that muted, minimalistic packaging may enhance perceptions of reliability and encourage healthier consumer choices by avoiding overstimulation. More broadly, the research underscores the importance of ethical and culturally aware packaging design strategies, offering valuable guidance not only for marketers but also for policymakers concerned with regulating packaging to promote responsible consumption, especially in the context of unhealthy snack products.