Major
Public Relations
Minor(s)
Plant Science
Advisor
Ashley, Christy
Advisor Department
Marketing
Date
5-2024
Keywords
bread; gluten-free; marketing; packaging; design; elements
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 License.
Abstract
A content analysis of gluten-free bread packaging
The gluten-free food market has seen huge growth in the recent decade with the market valued at 12.3 billion US dollars in 2023. This market growth is due to the increased awareness of gluten related illnesses such as celiac disease and gluten intolerance, as well as the increasingly widespread belief that a gluten-free diet leads to weight loss and a healthier lifestyle. Out of the gluten-free market, bread products have been a major contributor to the growth of the market due to the demand for low-carb, gluten-free bread. The purpose of this project is to look at the package design elements of gluten-free bread and understand how they differ from those of traditional gluten bread. The project compares how verbal elements, such as nutritional information; and visual elements, such as color, are used to influence the perceptions of product healthiness of both whole grain/multigrain pre-sliced gluten-free and gluten bread products. To understand what package design elements are being used, data were collected from three distinct types of supermarkets: a traditional grocery store, a mass discount grocery store, and a specialty grocery store. Following the analysis, inferences were drawn about which package design elements may be influencing perceptions that gluten-free products are healthier than their conventional, gluten-based counterparts.