Effects of package visuals and haptics on brand evaluations

Purpose – This paper aims to examine how visual and haptic package design characteristics singularly and jointly affect consumers' brand impressions.Design/methodology/approach – Integrating and extending design perception with congruence and fluency theories, the paper presents three research propositions that are tested in three studies. Bottled water serves as an example category with data provided by professionals and consumers.Findings – Study 1 identifies key types of holistic bimodal designs (Modern, Big Grip, Prototypical‐Small, Boxy Billboards, and Prototypical‐Large) based on brand visual and haptic factors. Study 2 relates these types to unique single‐modal brand impressions. Study 3 determines how consumers evaluate brands depending on the semantic congruence between haptics and visuals. Except for the excitement dimension, brand evaluations are more positive under conditions of high rather than low congruence.Research limitations/implications – The findings are obtained for a single category ...