A Study on Female Consumers’ Perceptions of the Health Value of Visual Elements of Weight Loss Health Product Packaging

Abstract

The obesity epidemic has evolved into a significant problem globally and poses a serious threat to the health of society. Despite increasing international research on obesity food packaging, the health value of visual elements in weight loss supplement packaging varies according to regional cultures and consumer groups. The scope of this study is the health perceptions of obese urban Chinese women regarding the design of visual elements of weight loss health product packaging. This study constructed a visual element index system for weight loss health product packaging in order to design a related questionnaire. The research team administered the online questionnaire to 305 obese women (aged 18–45+) in urban China from 22 June to 2 July 2022. The factors influencing the perceived health value of weight loss supplement packaging in the female obese group were examined using SPSS 26.0. A t-test analysis was conducted to derive the difference in the correlation between purchase status and brand identity. Linear regression analysis showed that age groups differed in package color and package shape, respectively. The study concluded that, first, there were differences in the perceptions of weight loss health product packaging among respondents with different purchase statuses; second, the older the respondents were, the more they perceived white packaging as having health value (p < 0.05); third, the health marker’s shape had little or no statistical significance on the individuals (p > 0.05); fourth, respondents who were older were more likely to think a cylindrical design has a benefit for their health than a square box shape (p < 0.05) and an anthropomorphic shape was more likely to produce a healthy weight loss effect than cylindrical packaging (p < 0.05); and younger people thought that an anthropomorphic shape was more likely to make them recognize the health effect than square box-shaped packaging (p < 0.05).