Case studies
Packaging, design and innovation
Why buy? Packaging and consumer behaviour
When visiting a shop or supermarket, consumers are faced with a plethora of competing products and brands to choose from. How do they decide which brand of a particular type of product to purchase?
Our researchers set out to understand how consumers respond to the design attributes of food and its packaging. Their work looked at whether the product and packaging design creates or minimises waste after the product's consumption. The research also looked at whether buying decisions are affected by the end use impact of the product and its packaging - whether it can be used again - or potential levels of waste.
Consumers are increasingly 'thinking the product through' and paying attention to the amount of waste that will be produced both from the preparation of the food and the packaging that it is contained in. The traditional routes for waste food and packaging are disposal to a refuse bin for landfill or incineration, or for composting. Re-use and recycling are increasingly becoming important considerations.
The research found that the physical and non-physical design attributes of a product and its packaging can affect (in positive and negative ways) how much the consumer chooses sustainable routes for the waste. Physical attributes which affect this choice include strength, durability and size of the pack whilst nonphysical attributes include the colour and graphics applied to the packaging.
The research also considered that whilst encouraging recycling and sustainable routes for waste, the added activity of recycling might be seen by the consumer as opposing the cultural trend towards reducing household work. The government's campaigns to encourage green lifestyles may demand significant social responsibility actions and effort from the consumer, going against the trends that encourage consumer convenience and products to make life easier and simpler.
Ten households took part in the research, agreeing to have the waste in their bins and compost heaps analysed by researchers. Although limited in scope by the length of the study, the results suggest that consumers are becoming more aware of food packaging and in many cases it does significantly affect their decision to buy or not buy a particular product.
The Centre for Food Innovation can help you look at and develop your product design and packaging. Often with only minor modifications, packs can be developed that will maintain the safety and shelf-life of the product. More importantly, such modifications can also give you the edge over the competition to encourage consumers to choose your product over a rival, based on the sustainability approach to packaging.
There is no doubt that consumers are becoming more aware of environmental considerations of the products they buy. If this can be used as a promotional aspect in helping the customer make a more informed choice, it is worthwhile, cost effective and contributing to sustainability.
Style and type of packaging affects purchasing decisions
