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 (bottled water) using experiments designed to highlight and focus consumer attention on the formation of impressions. The findings may thus not fully reflect consumer responses in actual retail purchase situations. Practical implications – The paper provides preliminary guidelines on how to utilize visual and haptic cues in the design of brand packages for stimulating desired consumer responses. Originality/value – The work presented in this paper contributes to the literature on design‐based brand inferences and semantic congruence by integrating the visual with the haptic perspectives.