Brightness and temporal reallocation in wine label processing: an eye-tracking and pupillometry study

Purpose We examine whether wine label brightness modulates processing intensity and the temporal allocation of cognitive effort, drawing on principles from information richness theory and the adaptive strategy selection framework.Design/methodology/approach In a within-subjects task, 32 participants viewed 16 labels varying in brightness, hue and saturation. Eye-movements indexed orienting and sustained attention allocation; time-resolved pupillometry (200-2,500 ms) tracked cognitive effort dynamics across early, middle and late processing stages.Findings Higher brightness lengthened fixation duration (+14.8 ms), revealing intensified processing of attended targets without altering sampling frequency. Pupillometry demonstrated adaptive temporal reallocation: high brightness front-loaded cognitive resources (allocated earlier in processing), enabling intensive early encoding that reduced late-stage compensatory demands; low brightness back-loaded resources (sustained in later stages), reflecting compensatory processing during later evaluation. This temporal reversal pattern varied in magnitude across hues in exploratory analyses.Originality/value This study provides evidence distinguishing salience-related capture from processing intensity mechanisms in packaging design. By demonstrating that brightness reconfigures when cognitive effort is invested rather than merely attracting attention, we reframe wine packaging design from visibility enhancement to information processing facilitation.