The influence of packaging colour on consumer expectations of coffee using free word association

Coffee packaging colour is a factor used to attract consumer attention and generate sensory and hedonic expectations. This study aimed to understand the effect of colour packaging on consumer expectations. A cross-sectional study with 432 volunteers was carried out using coffee packaging with black, red, green and yellow colours. Each coffee packaging was compared with another similar coffee packaging having the opposite colour in the chromatic circle (white, light blue, pink and dark blue colours). Results from volunteers using free word association show that important attributes related to coffee could be induced in the volunteers using food packaging with black, red and green colours. Furthermore, the white colour can also be used in coffee packaging; however, this colour was not correlated with warm products as expected in coffee. Finally, coffee packaging having pink, light and dark blue, as well as yellow colours was rejected by the volunteers, suggesting that those colours should be avoided in packaged coffee.