Abstract

Effects of Container Elongation on Consumers Volume Perception

Author(s): Yi-Lang Chen, Liang-Jie Shi

The present study examined the effects of cup elongation (short, wide vs. tall, slender) on consumers’ volume perception. Ninety participants were recruited in the study and were required to pour juice into a given container to referenced volumes (150 mL for tumbler and 100 mL for goblet) using their own judgment. Results showed that the short, wide tumbler resulted in less volume poured (134.5 ± 26.1 mL) than did the tall, slender tumbler (146.6 ± 26.3 mL) when the volume of the referenced tumbler was set at 150 mL. Similar results were also found for the goblet. The contrasting results for the tumbler, between the present study and previous study, may be attributed to different viewing positions; thus, the different optical cues dominated the judgment. The findings imply that the container volume perceptions were not only influenced by the elongation variable but also by viewing position.