An electronic label (e-label) device that monitors situational data and displays an e-label. When the device detects an appearance modification event trigger based on the situational data, it modifies the appearance of the e-label being displayed by the e-label device, for example, by enlarging the machine-readable portion (e.g., barcode portion) of the displayed e-label. The e-label device is a mobile device that can automatically toggle between display modes based on the situational data from external devices. A related method and computer program product are also described.