Multidimensional functional packaging value and purchase intention in private-label packaged food: A serial stimulus-organism-response model

Background: Packaging serves as a key inferential cue in private-label retail contexts, where brand-based quality signals are limited. However, existing research largely focuses on discrete packaging attributes, offering limited theoretical insight into packaging as a higher-order multidimensional construct within the stimulus–organism–response (S-O-R) framework. This study conceptualises functional packaging value (FPV) as an integrated stimulus and examines its role in shaping consumer evaluation and purchase intention through cognitive-affective pathways. Aim: This study conceptualises FPV as a multidimensional higher-order construct within the S-O-R framework and examines its influence on the purchase intention of private-label packaged foods through the sequential mediating roles of perceived value and attitude. Setting: This study was conducted among urban Indian consumers who recently bought private-label packaged foods in organised retail settings. Method: A structured questionnaire with a quantitative cross-sectional design was used in this study. Data from 557 consumers were analysed using SEM modelling. Results: FPV enhances perceived value, which reinforces attitudes and purchase intentions. FPV also directly influences attitudes, indicating complementary partial mediation through cognitive-affective pathways. The findings demonstrate that functional packaging operates as a higher-order integrated stimulus rather than a set of isolated attributes. Conclusion: Multidimensional FPV influences purchase intention through sequential cognitive and affective processes for private-label products. Contribution: This study reconceptualises FPV as a higher-order multidimensional construct within the S-O-R framework and demonstrates that perceived value and attitude sequentially mediate the relationship between FPV and purchase intention, extending FPV theory to an under-represented emerging private-label retail context.