Visual Complexity in Product Design : How Does the Degree of Elaborateness of the Front-Pack Image Impact Consumers’ Responses

Previous studies have documented the decisive impact of various product design factors 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 manipulated visual complexity by focusing on the degree of elaborateness of front-pack images. Using an affective priming task as 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 aesthetics, quality, prestige, trustworthiness, acceptable price, and purchase intention; Studies 2 and 3). Also, 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; Study 4), the association between higher complexity and product evaluation is also found under conditions of automaticity. The contrasting findings from the different implicit measures used may suggest that priming techniques may be unsuitable for examining responses to quite complex concepts such as consumer products. Overall, this research emphasizes that design complexity should receive more attention from consumer researchers and marketers