INFLUENCE DE LA SYMETRIE DES INFORMATIONS SUR L EVALUATION ESTHETIQUE DU PACKAGING ET SUR L INTENTION D ACHAT DU PRODUIT

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1 INFLUENCE DE LA SYMETRIE DES INFORMATIONS SUR L EVALUATION ESTHETIQUE DU PACKAGING ET SUR L INTENTION D ACHAT DU PRODUIT Sophie LACOSTE-BADIE Arnaud BIGOIN-GAGNAN Olivier DROULERS Université de Rennes 1 Centre de Recherche en Economie et Management CREM - UMR CNRS 6211 Contact: sophie.lacoste-badie@univ-rennes1.fr Résumé : Cette recherche vise à étudier l influence de la disposition plus ou moins symétrique (manipulation du niveau de symétrie) des informations présentes sur un packaging. Les résultats montrent qu une disposition symétrique des informations par rapport à un axe vertical diminue la complexité visuelle du packaging, améliore l évaluation esthétique du packaging et l intention d achat du produit. Une médiation seulement indirecte de l effet de la complexité visuelle du packaging sur l évaluation esthétique du packaging par la fluidité perceptuelle est mise en évidence. Les apports théoriques et managériaux sont discutés et les limites du travail exposées. Mots clés : Symétrie ; complexité visuelle ; fluidité perceptuelle ; évaluation esthétique ; intention d achat. INFLUENCE OF SYMMETRY ON AESTHETIC EVALUATION OF PRODUCT PACKAGES AND PRODUCT PURCHASE INTENTION Abstract: This research intends to examine the influence of the more or less symmetrical disposition (manipulation of the level of symmetry) of package information items. The results show that a symmetrical disposition of information items around the vertical axis decreases the visual complexity, improves package aesthetic evaluation and product purchase intention. Our results highlight an indirect-only mediation of visual complexity on the package aesthetic evaluation by the mean of processing fluency. Theoretical and managerial contributions are discussed and the limits of this research are exposed. Keywords: Symmetry; visual complexity; fluency; aesthetic evaluation; purchase intention.

2 1. Introduction Symmetry is everywhere in natural objects, from crystal to living organisms, in manufactured articles of many kinds, and in art work from all cultures (Wagemans, 1997, p. 346). Thus it is not surprising that human visual system is highly proficient in extracting symmetry from visual input (Treder, 2010). In psychology, many studies demonstrate the role of symmetry as a special spatial configuration which could influence our visual behavior. In marketing, research about symmetry is rare and very few studies had been led to assess the influence of symmetry on consumer s behaviors. The aim of this study is to examine the influence of the more or less symmetrical disposition (manipulation of the level of symmetry) of package information items. This study makes two contributions. First, this study shows that symmetry of package information items influences visual complexity, package aesthetic evaluation and product purchase intention. Second, it offers novel insights into the underlying mechanism showing that fluency mediates the impact of visual complexity on aesthetic evaluation of product packages. 2. Conceptual background and hypotheses 2.1 Symmetry and visual complexity. According to Van der Helm mirror symmetry is a visual regularity that can be defined by configurations in which one half is the mirror image of the other these halves then are said to be separated by a symmetry axis (Van der Helm, 2014, p. 2). There are different type of symmetry - horizontal, vertical, oblique vertical symmetry, however, appears to be easier to detect for human beings (Royer, 1981; Wenderoth, 1994; Wagemans, 1997). Symmetry is one of the defining characteristics of complexity (Berlyne, 1958) and several psychological research (i.e. Attneave, 1957 or Day, 1968) showed that even a small decrease in symmetry was associated with an elevation of the perceived complexity. Regarding product design, Creusen et al. (2010) using 52 pictures of video recorders, showed that symmetry correlated negatively with visual complexity. Based on these previous researches, the following hypothesis is proposed: H1. Packages with information items symmetrically arranged about a vertical axis will be perceived as less complex than packages with information items asymmetrically arranged. 2.2 Visual complexity and fluency. Perceptual fluency is the subjective experience of the ease with which an incoming stimulus is processed (Reber et al., 2004). It reflects the ease of low-level processes concerned primarily with stimulus form. Many characteristics of a stimulus drive fluency, such as goodness of form, symmetry, figure-ground contrast, stimulus repetition and prototypicality (Reber et al., 2004), but among them visual complexity plays a key role. Research in psychology showed that a decrease in the complexity level of a stimulus leads to an increase in perceived fluency (Reber et al., 1998; Winkielman et al., 2003; Reber et al., 2004; Bertamini et al., 2013; Joye et al., 2016). Most relevant to the current research, Orth and Crouch (2014) showing photos of deli with low or high complex environments to participants found that perceptual fluency decreases when the complexity of the environment increases. So the following hypothesis is proposed: H2. A decrease in the level of visual complexity will have a positive effect on perceived fluency. 2.3 Fluency and aesthetic evaluation. There exists a broad consensus in the psychology literature concerning the positive influence of perceptual fluency on aesthetic evaluation. Reber et al. (2004) states that the more fluently perceivers can process an object, the more positive their aesthetic response (p.364). Schwarz (2004) highlighted that our thought 1

3 processes are accompanied by metacognitive experiences, such as the ease or difficulty with which some information can be brought to mind or the fluency with which new information can be processed. These experiences are informative in their own right and people draw on them in forming judgments (p.332). In marketing the positive influence of fluency on evaluation has been studied. For example, Lee and Labroo (2004) showed that enhanced processing fluency of a brand leads to more favorable evaluations and greater probability of brand choice. Therefore, the following hypothesis is proposed: H3. An increase in the perceived fluency will have a positive effect on package aesthetic evaluation. In other contexts like retailing (Orth and Wirtz, 2014) or human computer interaction (Nazarreth, 2014) fluency has been identifying as a mediator of the influence of complexity. Indeed, Orth and Wirtz (2014) showed that the visual complexity of interior s design service environments influences attractiveness through the mediation of fluency. Moreover, Nazarreth (2014) found that fluency mediates the impact of visual complexity on perceived beauty and usability of Internet web pages. So the following hypothesis is proposed: H4. A decrease in the level of visual complexity will have a positive influence on package aesthetic evaluation, and this relation will be mediated by perceived fluency. 2.4 Aesthetic evaluation and purchase intention. Bloch et al. (2003) and Creusen and Schoormans (2005) have shown the positive influence of aesthetic evaluation of the product design, and Orth and Crouch (2014) of the package in order to improve purchase intention. So the following hypothesis is proposed: H5. An increase in the level of package aesthetic evaluation will have a positive effect on product purchase intention. 3. Methodology 3.1 Sample. One hundred and four participants 64 female, 40 male aged from 20 to 59 (M = 31,26 ; SD = 9,47) (48 participants ranged from 21 to 29, 40 from 30 to 39, 11 from 40 to 49, 5 from 50 to 59) participated. All participants had normal or corrected to normal vision. 3.2 Stimuli. Four product categories widely consumed by both men and women of all ages were selected (orange juice, chocolate bars, pasta and biscuit). For each product category, two packages with unknown brand (to avoid effects related to a prior exposure to the brand) were created by a professional designer. One version of the package displayed the eleven information items (for example, the name of the category, the brand, the slogan) symmetrically around the vertical axis, while the other version displayed an asymmetrical arrangement of these information items (see Figure 1). 2

4 Figure 1. Symmetrical (left) and asymmetrical (right) packages of orange juice 3.3 Procedure. Upon their arrival at the laboratory, participants were informed that they participated to a test prior to the commercialization of products. They were told that they were going to view on-screen products. The exposure time was self-paced. Each participant was exposed successively to the four sets of products. Each set was made up of two packages: one with information items symmetrically arranged and the other one asymmetrically. The order of presentation of product categories and the position (left or right) of the symmetrical package were randomized across participants. Measures of symmetry, visual complexity, perceived fluency, package aesthetic evaluation, and product purchase intention were collected. Finally participants answered questions regarding their age, and gender. 3.4 Measures. Package symmetry was measured on one 7-point semantic differential item anchored by asymmetric (1) / symmetric (7) (Pieters et al., 2010). Visual complexity was measured on two 7-point semantic differential items anchored by complicated (1) / simple (7) and complex (1) / not complex (7) (Cox and Cox, 2002). Perceived fluency was measured on three 7-point semantic differential items anchored by How easy do you find it to visually process this package? How difficult is it for you to visualize this package with your eyes closed? How difficult would you find the task to describe this package at a later point in time? with difficult (1) / easy (7) (adapted from Landwehr et al., 2011). Package aesthetic evaluation was measured on five 7-point Likert scales: this is a beautiful package, this is an attractive package, this package is pleasing to see, this package is nice to see, I like to look at this package with strongly disagree (1) / strongly agree (7) (Blijlevens et al., 2012). Purchase intention was measured on a three 7-point semantic differential items anchored by this package makes me want (7) / doesn t me want (1) to try this product, this package makes me want (7) / doesn t me want (1) to seek out this product, this package makes me want (7) / doesn t me want (1) to buy this product (adapted from Baker and Churchill, 1977). 3

5 4. Results Figure 2. Conceptual framework and results 4.1 Manipulation checks. For each of the four product categories, symmetrical packages were perceived as more symmetrical than asymmetrical packages (p >.05). Moreover, the means between the 4 symmetrical packages are not significantly different from one another, and the same holds true regarding the means of the 4 asymmetrical packages (p >.05). 4.2 Structure and reliability of the scales. Factor structures of the scales were tested with exploratory factor analyses. The internal consistency is considered to be adequate: visual complexity (r =0.82), perceived fluency ( =0.87), package aesthetic evaluation ( =0.96), and product purchase intention ( =0.95). 4.3 Influence of symmetry on visual complexity. Results of the regression supported H1: package with information symmetrically arranged will be perceived as less complex than package with information asymmetrically arranged (ß =.231, p <.000, R 2 = 0,120; R 2 adj = 0,119) (see Figure 2). 4.4 Fluency as a mediator of the package visual complexity package aesthetic evaluation relationship. Analyses conducted through Hayes s (2013) macro with bootstrapped samples (5,000) indicate indirect-only mediation (Zhao, Lynch, and Chen 2010) supporting the research question. The effect of visual complexity on perceived fluency was significant: a decrease in package visual complexity had a positive effect on perceived fluency (a =.65, t = 25.42, p <.000) (H2 supported). Controlling for visual complexity, perceived fluency had a significant effect on aesthetic evaluation: an increase in perceived fluency had a positive effect on package aesthetic evaluation (b =.27, t = 5.28, p <.000) (H3 supported). The direct effect of visual complexity on package aesthetic evaluation was not significant (c = -.01, t = -.22, p =.82). The indirect path of the effects of visual complexity on package aesthetic evaluation through perceived fluency was significant and positive (axb =.17), with the 95% confidence interval excluding zero [.11;.23] (H4 supported) (see Figure 2). 4.5 Influence of package aesthetic evaluation on product purchase intention. The results of the regression supported H5: package aesthetic evaluation has a positive effect on product purchase intention (ß =.487, p <.000, R 2 = 0,306; R 2 adj = 0,305) (see Figure 2). 4

6 5. Discussion and conclusion This study provides theoretical and managerial implications. Symmetry is everywhere and regarding packages it is easy to notice that some are symmetrically designed, while others are quite asymmetrical. To our knowledge, no systematic empirical research exists addressing the question of the influence of symmetry in the context of package. Our findings show that packages with information items symmetrically arranged relative to a vertical axis will be perceived as visually less complex. This perception of a lesser visual complexity brought by symmetry is in accordance with different studies in psychology (Attneave, 1957 ; Day, 1968 ; Moyles et al., 1965). Moreover, our results show the key role of perceived fluency: the influence of visual complexity on package aesthetic evaluation is mediated by the perceptual fluency. These results are in accordance with some studies in psychology (Reber et al., 2004; Joye et al., 2016) usually conducted with stimuli that are not complex (polygons, dots, abstract geometrical forms). From a managerial point of view, this research is useful for designers, marketers (product managers) and retailers. Indeed, this study shows that beyond the semantic content of information displayed on the package, the more or less symmetrical disposition of the information items will influence package aesthetic evaluation and product purchase intention. These findings are relevant to designers and product managers because it can help improve product sales with no additional cost. From a merchandising point of view, it is known that it is very difficult to bring out a product in the mass of the shelf. This research gives some indications to producers and retailers in order to design packages that displayed symmetrical facing to improve aesthetic evaluation and consumers purchase intentions. These contributions point however some limitations of this research. Our study only deals with four food products. Other food products or packaged goods other than food products should therefore be studied. Besides, this research is focused on the influence of symmetry in a packaging context, thus expanding this research to other communication media as print advertising (Pieters et al., 2010), websites (Tuch et al., 2010) or billboards could help gain more relevant insights. The topic of symmetry is here only discussed in term of vertical symmetry. It would be also interesting to explore the influence of horizontal and oblique symmetries (Wagemans et al., 1992). 5

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