Fragrance companies may use colors in packaging design to communicate the properties of their
fragrances. Packages with matching colors may have an additional advantage: some studies suggest that
consumers prefer offerings for which all sensory impressions are congruent. Hence, we investigated
whether consumers are more likely to buy fragrances with a matching package.
For five fragrances we created a package, based on a harmonious combination of three colors that
obtained high odor–color goodness-of fit ratings in a previous study. Packages were identical in design,
except for the colors used. The appropriateness ratings for the five packages were indeed found to be
related to the ratings for its major colors.
Subsequently, we assessed the degree to which participants were likely to buy different fragrance–
package combinations. However, buying intentions were not affected by the degree of matching between
fragrance and packaging. Instead, they were typically dependent on the degree of liking for the fragrance
and, to a lesser extent, on the degree of liking for the package.