The influence of graphic complexity of a perfume label on perceived fragrance complexity and consumers’ attitude

The literature on marketing and consumer behaviour recognises the importance of packaging and its visual elements, such as graphics. Within the perfume industry, many companies actively use graphics on their packages, ranging from graphically simple to complex packaging labels. This can influence consumers’ attitude and infer sensory characteristics of perfume. Crossmodality can explain this inference between vision and olfaction. Despite increased interest over the last decades, few studies have been conducted on the relationship between graphic complexity, consumers’ attitude and perceived olfactory characteristics. The master thesis thus fills this gap by answering the following research question: “What is the influence of graphic complexity of a perfume label on perceived fragrance complexity and consumers’ attitude?”. To this end, the thesis manipulates the complexity level of perfume labels (ceteris paribus) and conducts two different studies, namely an explicit online survey and an implicit-association test (IAT). The results specify a positive influence of graphic complexity on expected fragrance complexity, expected fragrance intensity, quality perception and prestige perception. No conclusions can be drawn for hedonism and purchase intention. These outcomes shed light on several managerial implications that revolve around the use of graphic complexity and crossmodal associations in the perfume industry.