How Packaging Design Influences First Impressions Through the Von Restorff Effect

Why Great Products Still Get Overlooked

Walk into any drugstore, supermarket, or mass retailer, and you will see shelves filled with supplements, skincare products, and personal care items that all claim to offer better quality, stronger formulas, or more complete benefits.

From a consumer’s point of view, many of these products look similar, make similar claims, and compete within the same few seconds of attention.

This is especially true for products like supplements and skincare. Their benefits are usually not felt immediately. Before consumers can experience the product’s real value, they first need to notice it, pick it up, understand it, and trust the brand enough to make a purchase.

However, many new brands lose the battle before they even reach the trust-building stage.

They do not lose because the product is not good enough.
They lose because the product is not noticed.

For emerging brands, one of the biggest challenges is not only creating a better product, but also earning the first opportunity to be seen, considered, and understood.

This challenge can be explained through a classic concept in cognitive psychology: the Von Restorff Effect, also known as the Isolation Effect.

What Is the Von Restorff Effect?

The Von Restorff Effect, also known as the Isolation Effect, refers to a simple but powerful idea:

When one item stands out from a group of similar items, people are more likely to notice it and remember it.

In packaging design, this difference does not have to come only from color. It can also come from:

• packaging structure 
• material 
• color 
• imagery 
• information layout 
• shelf display method 

When a product successfully creates a point of difference, the consumer’s brain can separate it more easily from surrounding competitors.

A simple way to test whether your packaging creates this effect is to run a quick shelf comparison test:

Step 1: Select 8–10 key competitors.
Step 2: Place all products together in one image or shelf setup.
Step 3: Ask 10 people who have never seen the product to look at it for 3 seconds.
Step 4: Ask them:

• What did you notice first? 
• Which brand do you remember? 
• Which product would you most likely pick up? 
• Why? 

If most people do not notice your brand, your packaging may not have enough visual or structural distinctiveness.

Why Packaging Influences First Impressions

When you look at a shelf for the first time, what do you notice first?

Different people may give different answers:

• the item with the most distinct color 
• the product placed in the center 
• the product with an orange graphic 
• the product with a larger size 

Although the answers may differ, the reason is usually the same:

It stands out from its surroundings.

That is the Von Restorff Effect in action.

The human brain processes a massive amount of visual information every day. It does not distribute attention equally across everything in front of us. Instead, it tends to prioritize stimuli that are visually or structurally different.

For packaging design, creating that “first-glance difference” is often the starting point of meaningful differentiation.

DHC: A Classic Case of Differentiation Through Pouch Packaging

In many Asian supplement markets, most products have traditionally used plastic bottles combined with paper boxes.

This type of packaging has clear advantages. It offers good structural protection, larger capacity, and, depending on the materials used, can provide moisture resistance, light protection, and proper storage performance.

However, DHC chose a different path.
Instead of relying primarily on the common bottle-and-box format, DHC widely adopted pouch packaging for its supplement products — a format more commonly associated with food, daily goods, or lightweight consumer products.

Compared with the many bottled products on the shelf, the pouch format itself creates an immediate visual difference.

In certain retail environments, pouch products can also be displayed on hanging racks or arranged differently from conventional bottles. This creates a different shopping context and further improves shelf recognition.

In other words, before consumers fully understand the product’s function, the packaging has already created the first memory cue.

True Differentiation Is Not Just About the Pouch

DHC’s differentiation does not stop at the package format. What is even more valuable is the way the brand handles information design.

Many supplement brands display quantity on the front of the package using numbers such as:

120 tablets, 180 tablets, 240 tablets

DHC, on the other hand, often uses:

30-day supply, 60-day supply, 90-day supply

At first glance, this may seem like a minor labeling difference. But it reflects a completely different way of thinking.

Consumers are not only asking:

“How many capsules are inside?”

They are more likely asking:

“How long can I take this product?”

By placing the information consumers actually care about in the most visible position, DHC reduces the effort required to understand the product.

This is a form of information isolation. Instead of simply making the package visually different, the brand isolates the most decision-relevant information, causing the consumer to pause and process it more quickly.

Compared with products that only communicate by tablet count, DHC removes the need for consumers to mentally calculate usage. They do not have to think, “If I take two capsules per day, how long will 60 capsules last?”

The package tells them directly: this is a 30-day supply.

This may only save a few seconds, or even just milliseconds. But on a crowded shelf, those moments can determine whether a product gets noticed or ignored.

Demand-Based Differentiation Is Easier to Remember Than Visual Difference Alone

The purpose of packaging is not simply to make a product look attractive.

Truly effective packaging makes consumers feel:

“This brand understands what I need.”

For example:

• Consumers do not need to turn the package around to know how long the product will last. 
• They do not need to repackage it separately before carrying it in a bag. 
• They can understand the product’s purpose and key benefit at first glance. 

All of these decisions reduce the consumer’s decision-making effort.

This type of memory, built around actual user needs and experience, is often stronger than a design that only relies on color or decoration.

The same logic applies to other product categories.

For example, if a product requires batteries, packaging that includes the batteries from the beginning creates a very different experience from packaging that requires consumers to purchase batteries separately.

When consumers can see the included battery on the package, they naturally do not need to worry about buying an extra one.

Once consumers experience a higher level of service, they begin to compare other products against that standard. If another product does not provide the same level of convenience, it may feel less complete.

What stays in the consumer’s mind is not only that the packaging looks different.

It is the feeling that:

“This was designed for me.”

Differentiation Does Not Mean Being Different for the Sake of Being Different

Many brands assume that as long as packaging is eye-catching, it will attract consumers.

But effective differentiation should not be built on novelty alone. It should be built on product positioning and real user needs.

Take the fishing hook packaging designed by INNORHINO for Synch Fishing as an example.

The brand wanted to build a more professional and recognizable market image. However, the design did not rely on an overly complicated structure or excessive special finishes just to attract attention.

Instead, the design team started from the brand’s positioning and reorganized the packaging structure, information hierarchy, and visual system.

Through a unique opening experience, the packaging helped the product stand apart from competitors while allowing consumers to quickly understand the brand’s professional positioning and product features.

This type of design does not only make the product “look different.”
It helps consumers understand the brand and product value in a shorter amount of time.

Successful differentiation is not about adding more design elements.

It is about reducing the time consumers need to understand the product.

Not every product needs a completely new shape, expensive material, or special production process. What matters more is building a consistent brand identity system and choosing the right packaging structure, material, and information layout based on the product’s characteristics.

A successful package should consider:

• Brand recognition: Can the product be noticed quickly among competitors? 
• Information clarity: Can consumers understand the key value within a few seconds? 
• User experience: Does the packaging fit the consumer’s actual usage scenario? 
• Manufacturing feasibility: Does the design align with budget, production process, and supply chain conditions? 

Packaging Design Checklist for Emerging Brands

Before redesigning your product packaging, ask yourself:

• Can my product stand out when placed next to competitors? 
• Can consumers understand the product’s key value within 3 seconds? 
• Is the information on the package what the brand wants to say, or what consumers actually want to know? 
• Does the differentiation improve the user experience, or is it only visual decoration? 
• Does the packaging also consider storage needs, regulatory labeling, and manufacturing feasibility? 

If most of these answers are “no,” the real problem may not be your advertising.

It may be the packaging itself.

Conclusion: Packaging Is the Product’s First Conversation With the Consumer

According to an Ipsos consumer survey cited in the original article, 72% of consumers say product packaging design influences their purchase decisions.

This does not mean packaging replaces the product itself.

It means packaging determines whether the product gets the chance to be picked up in the first place.

Product quality is still what determines whether consumers come back. But before that can happen, packaging must complete its first mission:

Help the product get seen, understood, and chosen.

For emerging brands, product strength and packaging strength are not two separate choices. They work together to build brand competitiveness.

Packaging differentiation is not about being different for the sake of being different.

It is about using design to reduce consumer decision-making effort and increase the chance that the brand will be noticed, understood, and remembered.

For brands, truly successful packaging does more than attract consumers to pick up the product.

It builds long-term market competitiveness while balancing product protection, manufacturing feasibility, and brand positioning.