The aim of the study is to scientifically explore the role of paper and embellishments of wine labels in driving consumers’ visual behaviour on the shelf, their perception of the product and their purchase choices. Thirty labels were created combining six types of papers and six types of embellishments. Thirty target consumers explored the shelf first without any specific tasks, and then with the goal to choose a bottle of wine, while their visual behaviour were recorded through a wearable eye-tracker.
Subsequently, the consumers were exposed to each single bottle. They had to watch each bottle for 15 seconds and then to handle it for the same amount of time. During this phase their visual behaviour and their brain activation were recorded respectively by a wearable eye-tracker glasses and an EEG headset.
After the test, an in-depth interview was conducted to assess the rational perception, the expectations, the intention to buy and the willingness to pay for the wine bottles. Results highlighted the role of both paper and embellishment in enhancing label visual saliency and equity on the shelf and in influencing consumers’ perception, expectation and purchase behaviour. Moreover, an interesting reciprocal influence of visual and tactile features on each other was found.