Can your eyes taste freshness? The role of visual realism, motion cues, and spatial imagery ability in juice packaging.

Purpose: This study examines how visual realism and implied motion cues in juice packaging shape consumers' perceived food freshness and purchase intention in sensory-constrained evaluation contexts. It further investigates perceived image dynamism as a mediating mechanism and spatial imagery ability as an individual-difference boundary condition. Design/methodology/approach: Study 1 tested the effect of image realism (realistic vs. stylized) on perceived freshness, healthfulness, and purchase intention. Study 2 manipulated implied motion cues while holding style constant and examined mediation by perceived image dynamism. Study 3 tested the moderating effect of spatial imagery ability. Data were collected via online surveys and analyzed using ANOVA and PROCESS-based mediation and moderated-mediation models. Findings: Realistic imagery increased perceived food freshness, perceived healthfulness, and purchase intention. Implied motion cues enhanced perceived food freshness by increasing perceived image dynamism. Spatial imagery ability moderated this mechanism: the effect of perceived image dynamism on perceived food freshness was stronger among consumers with lower spatial imagery ability, suggesting that these consumers relied more heavily on externally presented motion cues when forming freshness judgments. Originality/value: This research advances the juice packaging and sensory marketing literature by integrating visual realism, implied motion cues, perceived image dynamism, and spatial imagery ability into a unified framework. The findings show that packaging imagery functions not merely as decoration but as an informational cue through which consumers infer product freshness. The study also highlights the role of consumer cognitive differences in shaping the effectiveness of visual packaging cues.