Food, specifically those with heritage attributes, stands as one of the distinctive forms of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH). To promote and preserve such heritage, brands have increasingly focused on incorporating heritage elements into the packaging. This research employs three studies conducted in China to explore how different representation styles of heritage elements (verbal vs. non-verbal) shape consumer brand preferences in food packaging. Study 1 confirmed that food packaging featuring heritage elements effectively enhances consumer brand preference. Moreover, consumers exhibit stronger preference for the verbal elements over the non-verbal ones for heritage food due to construal level theory. Study 1 also demonstrated the mediating role of perceived value. Study 2 validated that such an effect remained significant within a tourism shopping context. In addition, Study 3 revealed the moderating effect of purchase motivation. When purchasing food as a gift, consumers tend to adopt a more abstract processing level (e.g., symbolic meaning, cultural connotation), which enhances the effect of verbal heritage elements on brand preference, whereas for self-use purchases, consumers shift to a concrete processing level (e.g., taste or price), thus enhancing the effect of non-verbal representation style. This research enriches the research on heritage element application in food marketing, and offers suggestions for packaging design for heritage food.

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.

In the literature, there are discrepancies about how nostalgia affects green consumption. Both positive and negative relationships between nostalgia and green consumption are found, and most research treats all types of green consumption the same, neglecting the differences. This study tried to put the contradictory findings together by classifying green consumption into future vs. non-future green consumption and taking collective vs. personal nostalgia into account. As far as we know, this study is the first to propose this classification of green consumption, and different patterns are found, which might drive new research. This research tested our hypotheses across four randomized controlled trials with 921 valid respondents in total. Study 1 found a negative effect of personal nostalgia on future-oriented green consumption and revealed a positive relationship between collective nostalgia and non-future green consumption. The results confirmed both positive and negative effects of nostalgia on green consumption found in previous research. Study 2 revealed that the past orientation mediated personal nostalgia’s negative effect on future-oriented green consumption and collective efficacy mediated collective nostalgia’s positive effect on non-future-oriented green consumption. Study 3 tested the moderating effect of product newness on personal nostalgia and future green consumption, and a negative moderating effect was uncovered. Study 4 found a positive moderating effect of product identity on collective nostalgia and non-future-oriented green consumption.