The perceived sweetness and price of bottled drinks’ silhouettes

This research supports the cross-modal correspondence between the shape of the bottle and consumers’ perception of sweetness and price using physical measures of beverage bottles. Images that add visual weight to the lower section of a package increase the perception of attributes associated with sweetness. In terms of price, the shape of the bottle is informative about its volume, which is the cue predictor of price. Through a within-subject experiment, we evaluated consumers’ perceptions of sweetness and price for a sample of 15 soft drink bottle silhouettes. These perceptions were correlated with the psychophysical characteristics of the silhouettes. Results reveal that sweetness has a negative correlation with height and the visual weight towards the bottom of the bottle. Instead, the price has a positive correlation with the area, width, height, lid, and variance of the bottle shape. Practical implications support having a package design that is consistent with product positioning and attributes.

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