Packaging Semiotics and Consumer Brand Responses: Evidence from Indonesia's Specialty Coffee Market

Abstract

This study examines how packaging semiotics directly influences repurchase intention, brand loyalty, perceived brand quality, brand image, brand experience, and brand trust in the Indonesian specialty coffee market. The study focuses on Indonesian specialty coffee consumers with prior purchase experience and on direct predictors of repurchase intention and brand loyalty. Using a quantitative cross-sectional survey, data were collected from 276 Indonesian consumers who had purchased at least one packaged specialty coffee product before participation. The constructs were measured using 47 reflective indicators and analyzed using PLS-SEM with a disjoint two-stage approach for two higher-order constructs, namely packaging semiotics as formative and brand experience as reflective. The measurement model showed satisfactory reliability and validity. Based on the direct paths tested in the structural model, packaging semiotics positively affected brand image, brand experience, and perceived brand quality, while its direct paths to repurchase intention and brand loyalty did not show significant direct effects. Brand image emerged as the strongest direct predictor of brand loyalty, and brand loyalty in turn positively affected repurchase intention. The findings highlight the importance of building brand image, perceived quality, and experiential richness through packaging design rather than expecting packaging to drive repurchase intention or brand loyalty directly in the specialty coffee category.