Visual complexity in product design: How does the degree of elaborateness of the front‐pack image impact consumers' responses?

Abstract Previous studies have documented the decisive impact of various product design elements on consumers' attitudes and decisions. However, research is missing on the impact of visual complexity. Using four studies that consider wine and perfume products, the present research manipulates visual complexity by focusing on the degree of elaborateness of front‐pack images. Using an affective priming task as an implicit technique, more positive automatically activated affective responses are shown for lower complexity designs (Study 1), in line with a processing‐fluency account. However, explicit measures show that higher complexity is associated with greater product evaluations (regarding esthetics, quality, prestige, trustworthiness, acceptable price, and purchase intention; Studies 2 and 3). In addition, more pronounced effects emerge for participants with higher sensitivity to design (Study 3). Finally, using an alternative implicit technique that does not involve very brief presentations of the products (implicit association test (IAT); Study 4), the association between higher complexity and product evaluation is also found under conditions of automaticity. Overall, this research provides insights into the diverging affective and cognitive effects of visual complexity. It suggests that the positive effect of lower complexity through higher processing fluency is restricted to responses that are affective and generated under conditions of automaticity that involve particularly low‐level processes. It also suggests that priming techniques based on very short presentations of the products' visuals may be unsuitable for examining responses to fairly complex concepts such as consumer products. On the whole, this research emphasizes that design complexity should receive more attention from consumer researchers and marketers.