Split-Second First Impressions: How Packaging Psychology Makes (or Breaks) a Brand

Branders Magazine
Sep 3
3 min read

Packaging isn’t just a pretty box; it’s a silent salesperson.

In under 7 seconds, your customer is deciding …

Do I trust this brand?

Does it feel premium or budget?

Does it align with my lifestyle or values?

Do I like what this product says about me?

By Kelli Binnings, Founder and Chief Brand Strategist at Build Smart Brands

Great packaging answers all those questions and more by bridging the emotional gap extremely fast, allowing consumers to connect and engage with a product through shape, color, texture, and style. It’s not about having the most expensive design; it’s about having one that grabs attention and sparks curiosity within the consumer’s mind. That’s the ‘oh so fleeting’ reality and power of a first impression in packaging.

Smart packaging connects products to a purpose. Every choice from color to typography, from material and texture to how it opens, should align and reinforce a brand’s promise. That’s what makes it memorable. The mysterious, albeit highly judgmental, relationship between the way something looks (or feels) and its perceived value directly impacts whether a consumer says “Yes, this is for me!” or simply moves on.

While we’re programmed to like what’s familiar, we’re attracted to what’s new. When buying something new, we unconsciously, or consciously, depending on the size of the investment, inspect and want to understand it before we decide to buy it. Even after a purchase is made, we want to prolong the excitement; we want to be entertained, surprised, and delighted, especially with high-cost purchases. For instance, the joy of opening and removing an Apple product from its box, or the key delivery presentation box from Porsche, all add to the luxury, high-cost, high-reward experience that defines each brand. Afterall, there’s a reason why there are entire YouTube channels dedicated solely to opening boxes; we love the attention to detail and personalization of the experience!

Luxury brands understand the value and impact of a great packaging experience. They’ve researched, experimented, and invested in the influence it has on perceived value and the emotional connection it makes within a consumer’s mind.

Not every purchase is draped in luxury, but every purchase made has some form of display that either grabs attention or provides some form of security, leading to a purchase.

Why do we need all this stimulation? Why does packaging matter so much and how can brands maximize their packaging potential by tapping into the psychological experience?

Our brains are wired to respond to visual, tactile, and emotional cues. Packaging taps directly into our brain’s abiity to detect patterns, it excites our emotional processing centers, and ultimately our decision-making systems, all at lightning speed. This constant filtering and prioritizing of information is part of several psychological processes at play.

Sensory processing assesses color, shape, typography, and texture and uses these cues to decipher whether something is seen as or feels luxury or cheap, modern or outdated, organic or curated. Our emotional response, or affective processing, then enables us to connect those initial intrepretations to a core feeling like trust, credibility, and authenticity. We then rely on cognitive biases like the halo effect, where we assume quality packaging means a quality product, anchoring biases, where we compare what’s new to what we know as an baseline standard to determine if it’s a better fit for us or not, and finally processing fluency, where time and clarity really come into play by how fast we understand and absorb the information being presented to us.

The evolution of RXBAR’s packaging is a great example that led them to a $600 million acquistion by Kellogg’s. They went from cluttered to clear packaging making their bars prominent on the shelves and perceived as more trustworthy and transparent in the eyes of their consumer. Pretty solid win for simply changing the packaging.

When packaging hits all the right sensory and emotional cues, it turns a simple transaction into a transformational experience, turning a brand into a sought after standard in the minds of a consumer.

Using color intentionally to elicit certain feelings, creating visual hierarchies for easier processing, incorporating unique sensory cues that make you stand out, and having a purpose-driven brand story reflected in the copy and/or feel of the package, will spark curiosity and intrigue for consumers. Attention to tastful detail is not lost and can turn a simple ecommerce or retail shelf into a full-on brand experience.

If you’re packaging makes someone smile, begs for someone to pick it up and touch it, or gives them FOMO on seeing what’s inside, you’ve just turned a split-second first impression into a lasting and memorable brand moment.