How should I tell you this? The effects of the image used to convey that a natural yogurt is sweetened on consumer expectations and willingness to buy.

This study aimed to assess how packaging imagery used to convey that a natural yogurt is sweetened influences consumer expectations and willingness to buy. Four packages of sweetened natural yogurt were designed, in which the message that they were sweetened was conveyed through three different images (sugar cubes, a sack of sugar and a spoon of sugar) and through only text. The results of a pretest consisting of a word association task and a main experiment consisting of an online survey show that packages in which the message that the yogurt is sweetened is conveyed by using an image together with a textual claim instead of just a textual claim are expected to be sweeter. However, some differences can be appreciated depending on the specific image that is depicted (with the package showing an image of sugar cubes raising the higher sweetness expectations). Moreover, results show that Willingness to buy is positively associated with the attributes Natural Ingredients, Healthy and Quality, and in a slightly negative way with the attribute Sweet. Overall, these results suggest that although using packaging imagery to convey a message may enhance consumer expectations and willingness to buy, its effect on consumers' attitude towards the product may ultimately depend on the subject of the image that is depicted and in the valence of the message to be conveyed. These findings are discussed in the context of packaging design and consumer research, and directions for further research are provided. This study may help packaging designers and dairy companies to better communicate the desired message to consumers and to improve the marketing performance of their products.