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1. Introduction
Most impulse buying occurs because of product display, and attractive packaging plays an important role in product display ([16] Ghani and Kamal, 2010). Point-of-purchase decisions heighten the potential for product packaging to communicate information to consumers and influence product choice ([11] Clement, 2007). Previous studies have indicated that packaging is a marketing communication vehicle ([42] Silayoi and Speece, 2007; [20] Hellström and Nilsson, 2011) used to capture consumer attention ([44] Thalhammer, 2007), which affects the product selection process ([18] Hall et al. , 2004). Therefore, product packaging provides an opportunity to communicate with and influence the consumer at the point of purchase ([4] Atkin et al. , 2006; [50] Wigley and Chiang, 2009). [13] DeBono et al. (2003) argued that attractive product packaging indicates a favorable product.
Previous studies have suggested that packaging attributes can be classified as verbal and visual cues ([29] Kauppinen-Räisänen et al. , 2012), and that the two types of packaging cues induce different types of cognitive processing. Whereas processing verbal cues into mental images require intentional effort, processing visual cues has been found to be unconscious and unintentional ([35] Mueller et al. , 2010). For high-involvement goods, the packaging design may focus on verbal cues that provide a means of comparing products in a self-service store. In contrast, packaging for low-involvement goods may focus on visual cues that provide the amount of physical and psychological benefits ([40] Sehrawet and Kundu, 2007). Researchers generally believe that visual packaging is key to gaining consumer in-store attention ([42] Silayoi and Speece, 2007; [47] Venter et al. , 2011; [23] Honea and Horsky, 2012). Furthermore, when consumers do not have prior knowledge of a product's qualities, visual packaging cues may attract consumer attention and set expectations for the product content of the verbal elements ([42] Silayoi and Speece, 2007).
Previous studies have further suggested that visual package elements play a major role in affecting consumer buying decisions, especially in low-involvement products ([41] Silayoi and Speece, 2004). Low-involvement goods refer to the category of products that was purchased routinely and without much thought, searching, or purchase time ([40] Sehrawet and Kundu, 2007). In general, food and drink items are considered low-involvement products because they are typically low value and high volume ([22] Hingley