Table 1 Summary of various meanings of abstract visual design cues in product packaging

Crossmodal correspondences

Colour-taste mappings (e.g. pinkish-red = sweet; blue and white = salt; Spence et al., 2015b); Colour-pairs = taste (Woods et al., 2016)

Shape-taste mappings (e.g. round = sweet; sour = angular; Spence & Deroy, 2013; Turoman et al., 2018; Velasco et al., 2016a, b)

Textures incorporating rounded elements = sweet (Barbosa Escobar et al., 2020) but more research needed

Elevation-taste mappings (e.g. sweet higher than bitter: Velasco et al., 2019a, b; cf. Sunaga et al., 2016)

Connotative meaning

Hue-connotative meaning (e.g. black = passive, bad, and strong; grey = passive, bad, and weak; white = good and weak; red = strong; yellow = weak; green and blue = good; Adams & Osgood, 1973)

Shape-connotative meaning (e.g. round = pleasant; triangle = strong; Cheskin, 1981). Linear element ascending to right = success (see Spence et al., 2019, for a review)

Data not available though presumably shiny/ metallic associated with premium (see Spence, 2021b, for a review)

Vertical stripes = luxury (Van Rompay et al., 2012, 2019; Wang & Basso, 2021)

Symbolic meaning

Purple = funereal in Japan; Orange = cheap; Black = luxury/premium (Jacobs et al., 1991; Spence & Velasco, 2019; Tham et al., 2020; Wheatley, 1973)

Tall and thin packaging = diet product (Raghubir & Greenleaf, 2006) cf. Cheskin, 1951, p. 110–111); Line ascending to right = success (cf. Spence et al., 2019)

Data not available; though presumably shiny/metallic associated with premium (Spence, 2021b)

Elevation and power (Sundar & Noseworthy, 2014); Laterality and healthiness (Romero & Biswas, 2016)

Semantic meaning

Signature brand colours (e.g. Dairy Milk purple; Baxter et al., 2018; Bowcott, 2013); Crisp packet colours signifying flavour/brand (Piqueras-Fiszman & Spence, 2012)

Image mould (e.g. Coke contour bottle (Anon., 1994); Wishbone salad dressing (Meyers, 1981); Listerine (Parise & Spence, 2012); or bamboo bottle (Visser, 2009)

Product texture (e.g. packaging with fruit-like texture; or Velvety toilet paper prime associated semantic meaning; Spence, 2019b)

When combined with colour, stripes take on semantic meaning (e.g. Cornishware; LGBQ Rainbow stripes; Yates, 2021)

Evolutionary account

Red = sexually receptive and arousing (e.g. Changizi et al., 2006; Humphrey, 1976; Pazda et al., 2011), but colour cues also key in foraging (Foroni et al., 2016; Sumner & Mollon, 2003)

Shape of danger (e.g. snake/spider-like; LoBue, 2014; Spence, 2021a); Seemingly innate affective response to orientation (see Karim et al., 2016)

Certain (slimy) textures associated with off-food therefore avoided; shiny textures look like water and so liked (Spence, 2021b)

When combined with colour may indicate natural danger (e.g. bees, snakes, etc.; (Coborn, 1991; Lieske & Myers, 1994), or camouflage