Exploration of Visual Appeal and Local Cultural Identity in Wooden Packaging Design

Abstract

As the coffee market continues to expand and new consumption patterns emerge, a brand’s cultural philosophy has become central to market differentiation. Consequently, innovative coffee packaging designs that integrate regional culture have drawn attention among designers and consumers. This study designed and evaluated wooden packaging prototypes. First, a repository was compiled of representative Yunnan cultural elements and four design schemes were developed. Next, 10 experts in the field of packaging design were invited. A multi-criteria evaluation framework was constructed, and the FAHP and CRITIC computed composite weights were determined for each index. Subsequently, TOPSIS was used to rank the scheme. An eye-tracking experiment was conducted with 44 test subjects to assess differences in visual attraction across schemes. Results showed that the FAHP–CRITIC–TOPSIS pipeline reliably identified the top-ranked scheme, and eye-tracking metrics corroborated its superior visual salience. The integrated approach combines subjective and objective evidence, rendering the weighting process more defensible and linking quantitative rankings with observed viewing behavior.