<p>Visual cues are central to packaging design across product domains, making it important to understand how revealing a food’s interior (e.g., through a bite, cut, or break) influences consumer responses. Drawing on the mental simulation framework, this research examines how packaging type (interior-revealing vs. intact) influences purchase intentions for indulgent foods. Across four preregistered studies, including three online experiments and one naturalistic field test using Google Ads, we investigate how, why, and when interior-revealing depictions affect purchase intentions for indulgent foods. Results show that interior-revealing depictions increase purchase intentions relative to intact depictions by enhancing sensory vividness. This effect attenuates when sensory information is explicitly provided or when the focal food item is healthy. These findings identify a key underlying mechanism and important boundary conditions, advancing mental simulation theory and offering new insights into how visual cues shape food-related consumer decisions.</p>