Thyago Ohana

After graduating on ‘International Marketing & Management’ from Lauder Business School, Vienna, Austria, I realized I had spent considerable amount of time on something that ultimately proved my four years of studies/intership were worth something: my diploma thesis on “The Black-and-White Color Scheme in Product Packages: A Study of Visual Perception”.

My 133-page piece of work, result of a six-month research carried during late 2009 and early 2010 is just too valuable to be kept on my bookshelf only. If there is someone out there who has some interest in it, I will be more than glad to share the results of my work. Get in touch!
In the meantime, here is the abstract of my thesis:

The study presents an investigation about the use of colors in product packages. One of the elements responsible for the communication aspect of product packages at the point of sale, individual colors and color combinations are reviewed from the marketing perspective as key on-site consumers’ perception molding and influencing factors. Narrowed down to the specifics of one color scheme, the black-and-white, this research analyses the peculiarities of this so called ‘old-fashioned’ color scheme in comparison to other schemes. Its influence in consumers’ perception of quality and purchase choice is observed through an empirical research conducted via an online platform, whose results indicate instances where the black-and-white color scheme indeed achieves more positive evaluations leading to purchase behavior. Going from the cross-cultural spectrum of meanings and associations of colors to the implications of the use of black-and-white in product packages, this research’s outcome compiles significant knowledge on visual perception. Supported by observation, the lines of research are filled with diligent literature-based citations and expert opinions and supported by the results of observations.

A guide for marketing managers and package designers seeking scientific knowledge leading to concepts of product packages, which fully take up its marketing-oriented applications, and an in-depth study of the achromatic color scheme, that is, black and white in combination, this diploma thesis conclusions go from the insights about color perception’s socio-cultural attributes to the positive relations between consumers’ quality perception and final purchase decision.