The Influence of Inner Packaging’s Number Cue on Consumption

Abstract Product packaging clues can lead to overconsumption and even obesity. While combined packaging represents a common packaging practice, it has not been addressed much in academia. To help clarify how marketers can optimize the relationship between the packaging’s number cues and consumption, this paper explores the effect of the quantity of inner packaging on consumption when the external packaging number is fixed. Across two experiments conducted in China, this study proposes that consumption increases with the number of the inner packages, while the total quantity of products is held constant and the Perceived Package Consumption Count acts as a partial mediator. For the restrained dieters, however, the effect of the packaging’s number cue on consumption disappears. The findings of this study have significant implications for consumers, marketers, and policymakers.