The psychology of packaging design

Narrow bottle = narrow enjoyment?

The Psychologie of packaging design

Packaging design is far more than just aesthetics—it's closely linked to psychology, emotions, and the way our brains work . According to Daniel Kahneman, our thinking is driven by the instinctive System 1 and the more logical System 2. We make 95% of all decisions quickly and emotionally with System 1. The rational, slow System 2 only comes into play when System 1 doesn't have an immediate answer.

At the POS, the decision to purchase consumer goods is made in a fraction of a second primarily by System 1, i.e. emotionally - based on colors, shapes, typography and other visual elements.

Tropicana lost $30 million 15 years ago due to a poor redesign. This makes the more recent relaunch all the more interesting. This time, the bottle shape was the main change.

Spoiler: Sales have plummeted again.

Insights from neuromarketing:

👉 Narrower bottle: The new bottle is narrower and therefore appears more modern. However, our brains associate narrow bottles with less content. Studies show that wide packaging appears fuller.

👉 Smaller fruit image: The narrow bottle offers less space for the orange, so it's shown smaller. This conveys less flavor. Because: The larger the food visual, the more enjoyable the perception.

👉 More text: The new design includes more elements. This makes it even more difficult to navigate the viewer's perspective, making it even harder for the eye to focus on the juicy orange.

My conclusion:

Packaging design must not only be beautiful, but also clever and psychologically thought out.

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#integritydesignhamburg #brandtransformation #BrandStrategy #PackagingDesign #neuromarketing

LinkedIn Post : May 18, 2025 by Katja Wagner