Choose the Right Package Shape

What's the ideal shape for packaging?

It depends.

How to Apply

• Wide = Heavy. Wide packages are stable, and stable objects look heavy (Yang et al., 2021). Wider packages should perform better for a rich and creamy brand of yogurt, whereas a healthy brand should perform better with a short width at the bottom.

• Tall = Healthy. Customers subconsciously compare packaging traits to humans. Tall packages seem healthy because they remind customers of a tall and slender person (van Ooijen et al., 2017).
• Tall = Luxury. Participants believe that tall and thin people belong in higher socioeconomic classes, and they transfer this belief to packaging: Tall packages are more effective in high-end markets (Chen et al., 2020).

• Round = Feminine. Evolutionary conditions have cultivated rounder shapes in female bodies (Van Tilburg et al., 2015). And this belief affects packaging: Angular packages seem masculine, while round packages seem feminine (Pang & Ding, 2021).
• Round = Sweet. Since round packages seem feminine, they inherit feminine traits, such as sweetness (Velasco et al., 2014). Choose a round package for sweet chocolate, yet an angular package for spicy food.

• Chen, H., Pang, J., Koo, M., & Patrick, V. M. (2020). Shape matters: package shape informs brand status categorization and brand choice. Journal of Retailing, 96(2), 266-281.
• Pang, J., & Ding, Y. (2021). Blending package shape with the gender dimension of brand image: How and why?. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 38(1), 216-231.
• van Ooijen, I., Fransen, M. L., Verlegh, P. W., & Smit, E. G. (2017). Signalling product healthiness through symbolic package cues: Effects of package shape and goal congruence on consumer behaviour. Appetite, 109, 73-82.
• Van Tilburg, M., Lieven, T., Herrmann, A., & Townsend, C. (2015). Beyond “pink it and shrink it” perceived product gender, aesthetics, and product evaluation. Psychology & Marketing, 32(4), 422-437.