# Green Wraps, Healthy Bites: How Eco-Friendly Packaging Shapes Food Perceived Healthiness and Purchase Intentions

## TL;DR

Eco-friendly packaging makes food seem healthier and increases purchase intent, especially for environmentally conscious consumers and hedonic foods.

## Contribution

This study reveals how eco-friendly packaging influences healthiness perceptions and purchase intentions through sensory cues and morality signals.

## Key findings

- Eco-friendly packaging is associated with healthiness perceptions due to sensory cues and morality signals.
- The effect of eco-friendly packaging on purchase intention is stronger for environmentally conscious consumers.
- Hedonic foods benefit more from eco-friendly packaging than utilitarian foods.

## Abstract

Environmentally friendly packaging has become a widely adopted food retail strategy, yet its impacts on consumer food perceptions (e.g., healthiness, taste, ethical concerns) remain fragmented. Notably, how it shapes healthiness perceptions is understudied. Across three studies, this study demonstrates that consumers often associate eco-friendly packaging with healthiness perception, driven by the heuristic associations of its original-ecology sensory cues, sustainable connotations, and morality signals, which further contribute to purchase intention. In addition, the effect of packaging eco-friendliness on purchase intention is moderated by environmental consciousness and food type. Specifically, the above positive effect of eco-friendly packaging is more prominent for consumers with higher environmental consciousness, and for hedonic (vs. utilitarian) food. The findings advance understanding of how eco-friendly packaging shapes food perceptions, and offer strategic insights for customized packaging design in food marketing.