Can packaging elements elicit consumers' emotional responses?
Emotion has been an important concept in many areas of consumer research such as judgment, decision making and advertising. Little research has been done on emotion in packaging adopting the physiological measures used in other areas. This paper draws on past studies in advertising that measure emotional responses toward image, colour and font, and apply them to packaging research. The study tests the extent at which packaging can elicit consumers' spontaneous emotional response for each of those three elements, by using skin conductance, facial electromyography (EMG) and selfassessment scales. The results show that packaging can elicit an emotional response via different elements. The paper also raises concerns about the accuracy of using selfreport measures of emotional responses to packaging research.