The Effects of the Colours and Shapes Found on Wine Labels - Research Paper Example

Perception Experiment Introduction The theory of perception can be used in the analysis and understanding of the behavior of buyers in consumer markets. The aspect of perception can be defined as a process in which individuals select, interpret and organize stimuli into a coherent and meaningful picture, or in simple terms perception can be defined as how we visualize the world around us (Green 1974). The consumer possess five senses which are used in the process of perception .In marketing field perception entails the manner in which consumers observe a service or a product. Of the many stimuli that a consumer may come into contact with , he or she may only pay attention to just a few and interpret messages that he / she remembers clearly .This is referred to as the perception process which involves three steps , foremost is exposure , the second step is attention and lastly interpretation ( Barber 2006). I f the image of a product is positive the consumer displays a perception that is selective of the positive aspect of the product. On the other hand if the image of the product is negative the perception will be distorted. Experiment on The effect of colours/shapes in packaging on the perception of the Quality of Wine Literature Review on Reactions of shapes and Colours on product Quality Consumers tend to react to shapes and colours that are present in labels of wine. There is an extensive realization that the front label is the immediate communication factor between consumers and wine makers, therefore considerable branding and marketing is placed on the process of designing labels that are visually attractive (Aslam 2006). Research has been conducted on the impacts of colour on the how consumers perceive products .Signals associated to colour send reactions that are effective to the brain. The preferences that are learnt concerning colour accumulate over time influence the choice of wine. Objects can be associated to colour on different dimensions. This is due to the fact that there is an association between objects and colour. On the scale of activity the perception of colour normally flows within the hue dimension .Colours can also be ordered on the scale of potency, the more the colour saturation, the more the object is perceived as being potent .It therefore appears that evaluation of the effect of colour interacts with the objects nature. Due to the underlying interpretations, colour can be perceived as an essential tool for marketing. Labels are also asserted to the shape of the product .The wine bottle size and the capability to offer information to consumers and induce and invoke functions which are more abstract to the consumption of wine .The shape of a wine bottle can influence the perception of consumers on the quality of the product. Well shaped wine bottle can be associated to good quality. In reference the Gestalt theory of perception the application of the figure on the ground principle where the shape on the ground is associated to the characteristics of the product (Bellizzi & Hasty 1983). Aims of the Experiment The aim of the experiment is to establish the effects of the colours and shapes found on wine labels. In rare case do wine consumers rely on the labels present on the bottle in order to deduce the quality of the wine content .However studies have indicated that the aspects of colour – shape can to some extents influence the determination of the consumer about the quality of the wine, which influences buying. The experiment indicated below can be used to analyse consumer perception about the choice of wine when considering the aspect of colour and shape. Test procedures. Separate questionnaires were used .The first focussed on the aspect of shape , where various shapes were displayed this includes ; trapeze , parallelogram , diamond , squares ,rectangles round edged , octagon ,isosceles triangles, circles , hexagon and ellipse . The next questionnaire consisted of various colours; red, brown, gold, green, yellow and white. All the shapes were introduced to ten groups each group also got ten colours under their observance. The next step was to order randomly the shapes present in each group so as to avoid a repetition of response. The respondents were then requested to choose the shape they would prefer in each of the ten groups of colours. This was the response for the first questioner. Each shape was presented with different colours. The second questioner involved was to choose the colour in which they would mostly respond to. The respondents were requested to fill the questioners after they were shown the real wine bottles of a Bordeaux-bottle style which was in a glass that was dark green , it had no back or front label however they were told that it was actually a red wine bottle . Further instructions were given on choosing their preference from each group of colours and shapes, whereby they would specifically label their preference on the bottles. Finally, respondents were requested to set a price on the particular bottle of wine they were “Buying” before responding to the questionnaire (Dickerson and. Gentry 1983). The investigation was performed in November 2007. The test sample involved 62 undergraduate Students registered in the course Introduction to Economics at the Biotechnology Department of UAB. In this test, 28 respondents were allocated the first questionnaire (preferences on Colour on the base of variations in shape) and 34 individuals were allocated the second questionnaire in which they were supposed to give response according to their preference of shape and colour (Charters and Unwin1999). Results Colour preference is independent of variation in shape The out come of the test indicated the frequency of preference of a particular colour is different at the rate of 10% across variations in shape, which corresponds to the fact that ten different colours had similar preference sequence in the questioner, for all probable j shapes. In particularly, the z statistics linked with the testing in opposition to the two-sided options are accounted for in Table 1, jointly with the frequencies at which the diverse colours were selected by respondents. Basing on the root of this test, there seems to be no reason for refusal of the null hypothesis, which gave suggestions that there is no apparent preference for the colours offered in the questionnaire, despite of the represented shape. Table 1. Frequency of colour preferences p(C=i|S=j) (%) z Black 14.0 0.48 Blue 6.9 0.58 Brown 5.8 0.46 Gold 14.6 0.42 Green 5.2 0.40 Orange 15.9 0.30 Violet 14.0 0.48 Purple 12.6 0.64 White 8.0 0.72 Yellow 3.0 0.22 (Cohen 1995). Calculations The accounted figures indicate the colour preferences frequencies for all respondents, regardless of of the shape variations offered in the survey. The statistics indicated as z refers to the hypothesis examination that the personal colour frequencies are equivalent to 10%. The size of the sample is 28. Statistical significance between the 1, 5 and 10% rank is represented by (***), (**) and (*) Preference of shape independent of variation in colour There seems to be a valid preference for selected shapes. The statistics indicated by z is connected to the testing of alongside the two-sided options is illustrated in Table 2, collectively with the selected shape frequencies. The statistics of the test show that the null assumption can be discarded for two shapes: octagon and ellipse. In other terms regardless despite of the colour of different shapes that existed in the questionnaires, the split of respondents who articulated a preference for octagonal elliptical shapes is advanced than 7.7%, with the correspond condition where shapes are selected within the same frequency (Gluckman 1990). Table 2. Frequency of shape preferences P(S=j|C=i) (%) z Parallelogram 3.2 0.33 Circle 5.6 0.64 Diamond 6.2 0.74 Ellipse 25.0 0.00 *** Pentagon 2.1 0.22 Round-edged rectangle 13.5 0.20 Isosceles triangle 2.1 0.22 Square 4.7 0.51 Hexagon 4.4 0.47 Trapeze 2.9 0.30 Right-angled triangle 2.1 0.22 Rectangle 10.0 0.61 Octagon 18.2 0.02 ** (Britton 1992). Calculations The reported numbers indicate the shape preference frequencies for all respondents, despite of the presented colour in the questionnaire. The statistics indicated at z shows the theoretical test that individual shape frequencies are equivalent to 7.7%. The size of the sample is 34. Statistical significance between the 1, 5 and 10% rank is represented by (***), (**) and (*), respectively. Preferences for selected colour-shape based on Gender The concept of consumer perception about products based on gender can bring out the deference’s in perception between men and women. For instance women prefer wine bottle appear to have clear colours this depicts the sensation of mildness. Men on the other had preferred dark coloured wine bottles which they perceive as bringing out a strong sensation. The figure gives variation of preference of colour among men and women ( Adelman 1962). Colour variation questionnaire Full sample Full sample Avg. price (in Euros) 7.16 8.74 St. deviation (in Euros) 4.66 5.91 Z statistic -1.15 Males Females Males Females Avg. price (in Euros) 4.32 7.94 6.83 8.99 St. deviation (in Euros) 2.16 5.48 2.80 6.19 Z statistic -2.48*** -1.20 The Z sample indicates a negative frequency of – 1.20 which highlights the fact that deviations present in the frequency highlight great difference in the perception based on colour between men and women (Chaney 2000). Preferences for selected colour-shape combinations Finally the procedure for testing the preferred shape and colour combinations are usually not influenced by whether respondents are prompt when trying to express the preference they have on colour and shape combinations .For each combination of shape and colour indicate that the colour blue was actually the best match for the shape of a parallelogram. Weaknesses in approach with respect to sample size The weakness of the use of perception of products in terms of colour and shape can be used in the experiment to provide basis for analysing the response towards the design of wine labels .The weakness associated to the use of this particular analysis is that quality can actually not be effectively measured by extrinsic aspects that exist within a product. The implication of this is that empirical evidence based on packaging can not provide the real information of whether the product is of good quality or not (Britton 1992). Conclusion The perception theory has impacts on the buying behavior of consumers. T6he consumer plays distinguishing roles of paying and using the product. Perception being a process of forming opinion about stimuli that is obtained from sensory organs. This paper set to explore preference of consumers over shape shapes and colours of the designs in wine labels .It develops an experiment that reveals the strong effects on the design label on the perception of consumers. The key finding of the analysis is that there is a strong preference of the combination of shapes and colours, as opposed to when each of the two concepts stand single handedly. . Bibliography Addelman, S. (1962). Orthogonal Main-Effect Plan for Asymmetrical Factorial Experiments, Techno metrics 4(1), 21–46.   Aslam, M. M. (2006). Are you selling the right colour? A cross-cultural review of colour as a marketing cue, Journal of Marketing Communications, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 15–30. Barber N and Donovan, J.R. (2006). “Motivational factors of gender, income and age on selecting a bottle of wine”, International Journal of Wine Marketing, Vol. 18, No. 3, pp. 218–232. Bellizzi, J. & Hasty. (1983). The effects of color in store design. 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