Meme-Based Packaging as Digital Cultural Translation: How Online Cultural Symbols Shape Purchase and Sharing Intentions

Internet memes increasingly move from social media into physical product packaging, yet little is known about how consumers respond when online cultural symbols become package design cues. Drawing on the Stimulus–Organism–Response framework, this study examines how meme-based packaging shapes purchase intention and sharing intention through perceived value, brand warmth, and cultural resonance. A between-subjects survey experiment was conducted with 305 Chinese adult consumers, who evaluated either a meme-based packaging stimulus or a no-explicit-meme conventional packaging control stimulus. Partial least squares structural equation modeling showed that purchase intention and sharing intention followed different dominant mechanisms. Perceived value was the strongest predictor of purchase intention, whereas cultural resonance was the strongest predictor of sharing intention. Visual attractiveness most strongly enhanced perceived value, while playfulness and expression–product fit contributed more clearly to brand warmth and cultural resonance. Mediation results further showed that brand warmth and cultural resonance consistently transmitted the effects of meme-packaging cues, whereas the value route was more selective. These findings show how online cultural symbols can continue to shape consumer evaluation and social transmission after entering physical product interfaces.