Some people may say ‘one cannot judge a book by its cover’ but shoppers often judge product by its ‘packaging’. Successful execution of package design and package material can give products a facelift, increase sales, unify products within a brand, or reaffirm brand identity (Marketing News, 2011). In addition, changing consumer lifestyles are influencing consumer behaviour towards product consumption and packaging. Mintel (2011) research found that the biggest contributor to household waste is the fast growing one-person household who have a higher rate of consumption of ready meals and convenience food. Also, packaging for FMCG products has evolved to become more than a functional necessity, it is an important marketing tool for standing out from the crowd and reaching target markets. Furthermore, consumers’ attitude and behaviour towards packaging, including its storage and usage, has environmental implications for marketers. At what costs to the environment are consumers and businesses willing to trade to make the sale? In the 1990’s, author of sustainable lifestyles, David Wann stated “...the packaging for a microwavable "microwave" dinner is programmed for a shelf life of maybe six months, a cook time of two minutes and a landfill dead-time of centuries.” In today’s environmentally conscious consumer world, his words continue to ring true, as it is unavoidable for the packaging industry to produce without considering environmental consequences.
What is the Purpose of Packaging?
Packaging typically refers to the material in which a product is packed - or more specifically, the surface design on the material. A wider definition includes all the various aspects of presenting a product - e.g. the shape size and appearance of the packaging, colour and design, and the convenience of using the packaging (The Times 100, 2011). The importance of packaging can be illustrated by its industry spend. In the UK, £5.6 billion was spent in 2009 on packaging materials for the food and drinks industry alone (Mintel, 2011). Although the basic functions for packaging are to protect and contain goods, provide convenience, and communicate, there is a stronger reliance on its non-functional role in sales and promotion of a product (West, 2011). Effective packaging is found to increase sales by better satisfaction of customer needs through visual cues of quality (Wright and Rathmell, 1958). Shoppers are able to separate the brand from others and identify the information they need in order to purchase a product by reading the package label or identifying with its package design. In earlier days, Ernest Dichter in 1958, stated that an effective package must “reach out” by offering the consumer:
· convenience,
· adaptability (to domestic storage requirements),
· security (assurance and quality),
· status and prestige (the act of purchase is an expression of the consumer’s personality),
· dependability (reliance on the manufacturer), and
· aesthetic satisfaction (pleasure in design, odour, and shape of the package).
Fast-forward 50 years later, researchers find this criteria set by Dichter still relevant but emphasis colour, typography, graphic forms and illustrations as most influential on perceptions today (Ampeuero and Vila, 2006). The main additional challenge for today is the increased competition on store shelves. Marketers are forced to find more innovative means through packaging to reach their target market. Packaging is crucial for FMCG products, especially as it could be the first and last thing that the customer sees before making the final decision to buy (Louw and Kimber, 2010). The consequences of bad package design could do the reverse and lead to a decrease in sales, negative impact on the brand, and even kill off the product. A widely discussed example is of Tropicana, a juice products brand, which saw their sales drop by 20% in fewer than two months of redesigning their cartons (Marketing News, 2011). It was found that consumers had an emotional bond with the brand; the new packaging resembled a generic store brand. The loss of the iconic orange no longer reinforced the fresh, not-from-concentrate idea in the mind. In other words, packaging can hold strategic importance for product sales and promotion; it is the visual that signals the brand’s familiarity in the mind.
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| New and Old Tropicana Packaging |
Packaging and Product Branding
In a competitive marketplace, packaging can be deployed strategically by product differentiation through the development of a brand for your product. A brand’s image could be directly affected by packaging as it communicates a brand’s values and benefits (Louw and Kimber, 2010). An attractive brand image for a product enables a firm to differentiate its homogenous physical product or service and avoid competition, ultimately leading to sales (Chaneta, 2010). To illustrate, a study found that 18-24 year-olds are willing to switch drink products because of eye-catching packaging (Mintel, 2011). Modern marketers believe that packaging is much more powerful than advertising for reaching target markets and much more influential on consumers on how they perceive and experience the product and brand (Hofmeyr and Rice, 2000), especially for products with low advertising support (Rundh, 2005). Most FMCG product purchase decisions are mostly made at the time of purchase and tend to be low involvement products – further requiring packaging that makes the product stand out from the rest. Differentiation can also be achieved through innovative use of colour, a unique shape/structure, a strong logo/brand mark, or a unique visual icon (Louw and Kimber, 2010). Capitalizing on this knowledge is Heineken, who recently redesigned its can, adding texture to make it look like condensation in order to make their product more visible and a more enjoyable drinking experience (Fuhrman, 2011). The update of its package supports their brand, known for driving innovation in their industry. Another study discovered children were attracted to yoghurt packaging that were brighter and showed cartoon characters, leading mothers to prefer those products – ultimately driving brand choice (Siloyai and Speece, 2004).
Packaging also has the power to reinforce brand values over time by continually satisfying the customer, as it is the only part of marketing communication that the consumer takes home. It can also increase or support ongoing sales from existing customers with a product usage focus on the package (i.e. drink more) (Barker, 2011). Thus, package labelling and information is significant in consumers product choice at point-of-purchase and can provide reassurance post-purchase.
Storage and Usage
Brands are investigating ways to better reach their consumers with packaging through consumer research on storage and usage. A recent Mintel research report found that the trends in packaging include increased usability; consumers are demanding easy to open and re-sealable packaging so that goods can be stored longer. Also, consumers are looking at businesses and government in reducing packaging waste. Interestingly, the over 55 year-olds are keen on changing their lifestyle habits to benefit the environment, such as buying recyclable products (Mintel, 2011). This indicates that new consumer attitudes and lifestyles need to be taken into consideration in designing packaging in order to appeal to shoppers. Summit Brewing Co., responded to changing customer needs for easy-to-open packaging. After receiving numerous comments from their customers about the difficulty in twisting open their bottle caps, they developed ‘pry-off caps’ which also improved quality (Fuhrman, 2011). In this case, Summit Brewing Co., were aiming to influence sales and customer loyalty through improving ease of use of the packaging.
Wider Environmental Costs of Packaging
Consumers are experiencing busier lifestyles with less time and less favourableness towards cooking at home (INCPEN, 2011). This is leading to more ready-meals, which demand more packaging and in turn, lead to more waste. In fact, in the UK 10 million tonnes of packaging are used each year to protect all goods purchased by businesses and consumers, with each household generating about 4kg of packaging waste a week (INCPEN, 2008). Packaging manufacturers and brands are already working together in reducing packaging, albeit nudging higher costs, in anticipation of increasing environmentally influenced consumer attitudes and behaviour. This is leading to an innovation drive in the packing industry to come up with more appealing packaging that catches-the-eye and better packaging solutions for the environment. One successful company to have achieved such a mammoth task is local UK brewery Adnam’s Brewery who have reduced their glass usage for their bottles by 624 tonnes a year and also being named the first carbon neutral beer; helping to boost their sales for beer by nine percent (CBI, 2009).
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| UK Households Have Weekly Wastage of 4kg |
Findings and studies on consumer behaviour in terms of packaging and environmental concerns, portray consumers becoming more aware of the impact of their activities on the environment (i.e. waste from packaging) but are not necessarily changing their actions to match the increasing attitudes on environmental friendliness. Studies conducted by Perception Research Services found that almost half of shoppers believe they should be responsible for recycling and are more interested in recyclable products (Rokka and Uusitalo, 2008) with 30 percent indicating they would like to choose more environmentally friendly packaging; however, this finding is contrasted by the fact that less than 18 percent of consumers actually check whether the product is environmentally friendly or recyclable before purchasing (Sandoval, 2010). This demonstrates that although consumers are increasingly becoming more aware and favourable towards environmentally friendly products, at the point-of-purchase they are more influenced by other factors more pertinent to their needs and wants (i.e. price, brand, etc.). Product marketers will need to reconsider whether environmental-friendliness and packaging is really an important attribute for consumers in purchase decisions. However, Danone Waters of America use environmentally friendly packaging to help consumers feel good about the purchase and feel encouraged to recycle (Fuhrman, 2011).
In conclusion, it’s becoming clear that consumers would rather rely on manufacturers to provide products and packaging that they can feel good about, without changing their behaviour, giving up performance/quality, or paying more. For today’s marketers, packaging is an integral marketing tool for FMCG products in reaching and engaging with target markets. Effective marketing communication via packaging can make customers feel good about their purchase; thus reinforce behaviour with brand choice. Re-sealability in packaging and innovative packaging design can help increase sales by catching the eye on cluttered shelf space. And with environmental friendly packaging, consumers are still demanding businesses and manufacturers to be the action-taker with reducing packaging and wastage. For future research, it would be interesting to research the long-term consumption or loyalty effects from switching products based on packaging.
References
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