Package design plays a significant role in affecting consumer expectations on how a food product tastes and the perceptions of healthiness. It might even have greater impact than what researchers have observed the past few decades. At the core of this finding is multi-sensory perception, in which consumers make decisions based on a combination of inputs from the five basic human senses. Here's a look at how sensory design of metal packaging affects consumer expectations of a product.

Understanding consumer behavior is the main reason packaging designers should take an interest in how multisensory packaging affects consumer decisions. While every consumer makes decisions based on their own personal experiences, certain packaging themes appeal to certain market segments. Here are essential themes of multisensory packaging that designers should explore.

Consumers have a need for touch the same way retailers have a need to sell products. But it's a mistake to assume all consumers respond the same way to the same stimuli. Every individual coexists with thousands of marketing campaigns wrapped in packaging techniques trying to get their attention. Here are important points for designers to consider about multisensory perceptions among consumers when crafting a new package.

Consumers base buying decisions on what their senses, memories and emotions tell them. That's why packaging design should provide multisensory stimuli congruent with brand themes that connect with followers. Here are ways designers can apply knowledge about multisensory processes to packaging designs.

Some people call it "hardness," while others involved in packaging design use the terms "firmness and compressibility" to describe the feel when two hands squeeze a product. But distinguishing the differences between texture and hardness can be challenging due to overlapping variations. Here are points for designers to consider that take consumer perceptions of firmness and compressibility into account.

As part of the multisensory experience, the mind forms thought patterns associated with shapes, which should be of interest to packaging designers. Shapes, like colors and textures, can contribute to perceptions about objects based on personal experiences. Here's a look at how the shape of a package communicates with consumers.

Texture is a crucial factor in packaging because it needs to match consumer expectations. Delicate products need more blatantly protective packaging, which shoppers evaluate by touching the package. Each shopper has their own multisensory approach to judging retail items. Here are concepts about how the texture of packaging affects consumer perceptions.

Deep in every consumer's mind are perceptions about the world. These perceptions don't just develop randomly, as they are shaped by multisensory input. This input comes from thousands of experiences over time stored in memory and then are triggered by associations. These associations also develop over time based on experience with a product and its corresponding packaging.

Minimalism is the most subtle packaging design cue that communicates a brand's quality. Through different periods of history it has been associated with classy design and respected reputation. The "less is more" concept, however, is complex for designers in the sense that it really comes down to the specific product and how it relates to a premium experience.