Conveying organic character with a label: the role of color in the packaging of organic yogurt.

Background: This work evaluates the influence of label color in consumers' perception of 'organic' in plain organic yogurt. Five labels were specifically designed for this purpose, using recurring hues and images found in a preliminary study of the packaging of 86 organic yogurts in six European countries. Through online surveys, 124 Spanish respondents participated in an experiment structured in three parts: selection of terms that apply to each label to find out color subjective associations using check-all-that-apply (CATA) methodology, evaluation of purchase intent and ranking of the designs according to their closeness to the 'organic' concept.

Results: Organic yogurt is regarded as healthy, homemade and a high-quality product. Green labels are viewed as the most 'organic', ranked in first place in all positive attributes and best rated in purchase intent. Among green labels, that with a green landscape conveys superior expectations of pleasant sensory experiences. Black and multicolored dotted labels are regarded as unconventional for this product and are less liked. A blue label is generally well considered, but respondents tend to place it in intermediate positions. Consumers' purchase intent coincides with the ranking according to their 'organic' character. Furthermore, purchase intent scores are accurately predicted by a strong linear relationship (R² = 0.9992) with the average citation frequency of positive CATA terms.

Conclusion: For organic yogurt, label designs based on green colors, possibly containing evocative images, better express the idea of organic and its related positive attributes, enhancing consumers' expectations and purchase intent. © 2025 The Author(s). Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.