Vital dimensions in volume perception: Can the eye fool the stomach?

Given the number of volume judgments made by consumers, for example, decidi ng which package is larger and by how much, it is surprising that little re search pertaining to volume perceptions has been done in marketing. In this article, the authors examine the interplay of expectations based on percep tual inputs versus experiences based on sensory input in the context of vol ume perceptions, Specifically, they examine biases in the perception of vol ume due to container shape. The height of the container emerges as a vital dimension that consumers appear to use as a simplifying visual heuristic to make a volume judgment. However, perceived consumption, contrary to percei ved volume, is related inversely to height. This lowered perceived consumpt ion is hypothesized and shown to increase actual consumption. A series of s even laboratory experiments programmatically test model predictions. Result s show that perceived volume, perceived consumption, and actual consumption are related sequentially. Furthermore, the authors show that container sha pe affects preference, choice, and postconsumption satisfaction. The author s discuss theoretical implications for contrast effects when expectancies a re disconfirmed, specifically as they relate to biases in visual informatio n processing, and provide managerial implications of the results for packag e design, communication, and pricing.