Effect of Packaging Design on Consumer Purchase

This research paper explores the effect of packaging design on consumer purchase behavior. It covers elements such as color, material, style, and textual data that influence consumer purchasing process. The paper uses a conceptual framework to explain the relationship between packaging design and consumer behavior.

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EFFECT OF PACKAGING DESIGN ON CONSUMER PURCHASE
By Student Name
Professor Name
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I. Executive Summary
The reports objectives are centered in highlighting important areas within the field of packaging
of products. The paper’s research problem is focusing on the influence of product packaging on
customer’s purchasing process. On the other hand, the chief objective is finding out how
customers purchase commodities in the market based on some external factors. The paper
indentifies elements such as color; textual data, material, and style have which influence in
consumer purchasing process. Crouch and Housden (1996), the knowledge on these elements
will aid in answering our research problem and objectives. In the data analysis section qualitative
techniques will be employed such as interviews discussions and questionnaires in order to
acquire concrete answers to the research problems.

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II. Background
The main aim of the paper is pointing out the effect of packaging factors which have significant
effect on consumer buying behavior. Additionally it explains how these elements results to the
recognitions and acceptance of various brands in the marketplace. Wellman (1999) explains how
product packaging influences many people purchasing behavior all around the world. Product
labeling and packaging is crucial in drawing more customers to purchasing your products. Thus
the most prioritized element should be customer purchasing attitude. While other constituent
elements such as textual data, material, style, and color are independent variables according to
our research. Due to innovation in organization and changes in consumer product awareness
organizations should increase customer motivation during product labeling in order to increase
promotional sales. Therefore, it can be deduced that product packaging plays a crucial role
during buying of a product therefore managers should focus on that.
One responsibility of product packaging is that it assists any prospective customer in
distinguishing a collection of product brands. This strategy is only applicable on brand since it is
able identify one brand from the other based in the color, taglines, logos, and company names.
This elements enables a customer to indentify the same products which are different brands
displayed in a shop. Bonoma and Zaltman (1978, it depends on customer view of differentiation
despite the firm instituting huge sum of funds in the packaging concept. Therefore, this makes
most people figure out if brand recognition is linked to various packaging elements.
If two similar products are aligned, can its components be considered as the differentiating
elements and play an important role in changing the purchasing process? Is there and linkage

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between purchase preference, brand recognition, and the recall of a brand? The questions should
be answered in concise ways therefore our study shall specifically aim on that by outlining the
essential packaging elements (Massy, Frank, and Lodahl, 1971). Therefore the research paper
shall cover these topical questions and come up with valid concluding which will aid during the
making of packaging decisions.
III. Research’s questions and goals
In this paper certain priorities have been considered since the stated queries will be answered in
various sections of our research paper. Additionally, every paper’s goals have been outlined
based on the theme in the paper.
1. Color
 Do people most people select a product based on its color?
- Research paper main aim is to explain the linkage between color and customer’s
purchase of certain products.
 Identify the prominent colors that are used in the process of product labeling
- Aim is to figure out the admired colors which are often recommended by
customers during purchasing.
2. The type of Material
 State the importance and type of packaging materials used by managers?
- The main goal is finding out the correct material preferred by customers for
packaging
 What is the material type used during product packaging?

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- Main objective is to find out the main material to be used in the process of
packaging a product.
3. Packaging Style
 What are the important factors affecting packaging style of a product?
- Aim is to explain the constituent factors that affect product packaging style
 Importance of shape in product recognition
- The aim is to figure out product recognition and product shape
4. Printed data on product
 Essential data required during product labeling
- Research paper’s aim is to explain consumer purchase behavior based on textual
information on a product.
 Effect of printed data on product to the marketplace
- The aim is to explain the linkage between textual information on a product with
consumer purchasing behavior.
IV. The Conceptual framework
According to Knittel and Stango (2004), they have designed a conceptual framework which can
easily explain the linkage between the customers and a product’s elements. Every customer
always relies on the elements of a product as suggested by scholars, “what someone visualizes is
what they acquire.” This framework outlines two significant variables which are classified to be
both dependent and independent variables respectively. According to our analysis the customers
will be categorized as the dependent variables that create an influential effect during buying of a
product. On the other hand, the independent variables in our context are those elements that
affect the designing of a product (Raghubir, Tyebjee, and Lin, 2009). Thus, the independent

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aspects in our case will be color, style, material, and textual information used during the
packaging process.
Figure 1: Conceptual framework explaining the influence of color, style, material, and textual data on consumer
purchasing process
The dependent variable is:
1. Customers
Any individual who has awareness of a certain product offered by an organization and its costs
play an important role and thus should be valued. When more people are aware about any
products information then there will be an increased rate in purchasing the product. Basically, a
general feature that affects customer includes various psychological, personal, social, and
cultural characteristics (Kotler, 2008). On the other hand, the independent variables in this paper
reveal rigid characteristics on customer buying process. According to Ichida and Voigt (1996),
Consumer
Buying
Preference
Colour
Textual
Informatio
n
Type of
Material
Style

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they explain how color is perceived based on cultural backgrounds since more people always
prefer using red materials during purchasing process.
The independent variables are:
1. Packaging color of a product
According to VanHurley (2007), color always draws the attention of any products which creates
motivation to consumers making them purchase the commodity. Currently, different firms have
comprehended the conceptual effect of color on consumer purchase. Most often color can create
various conspiracy which initiates product purchase. This factor plays a significant role in
marketing since it influences many buyers attitude towards a product they ought to purchase. In
this way the results based on different sorts of research postulate that color stimulates the surge
of buying a certain commodity in the marketplace. Additionally, color also increasing the
promotional effect on a product and minimizes any uncertainties that may arises pertaining a
product.
2. The packaging material
It is essential in prioritizing the right type of material utilized in the process of packaging a
product for any firm. There are certain material which are often used during packaging of a
product they include metals, glass, bubble wraps, cardboards, plastics, etc. Kotler (2008), points
out that the material that is used in wrapping any customer’s product may serve different
purposes such as product promotion, protection, and also preservation. Organization should
design products based on consumer perception since some may decide on choosing products
which are portable while others tend to buy items that can be reused. Hence most marketers
should consider this factor since it has significant influence on consumer purchasing process.

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3. Package style
The style of product packaging is a significant element that retailers consider when determining
the level of competition in the market. The product’s aesthetics effects the perception of buyers
over a particular product. Considering styles of packaging, factors like design, shape,
innovativeness and fonts need to be considered in the retail market. Many companies use funds
when designing packages to attract potential clients. According to Grace (2016), wrapping fonts
are carefully applied to products to gain full attention from purchasers. Packaging style also
formulates a virtual insight of potential consumers concerning the quality of the product.
Resultantly, this explains why it is vital to scrutinize variables when answering study questions.
4. Written data
There is no other means to make an impact on your image that applying printing techniques. The
capabilities of making high-revolutionized images on quality sheets or papers, chosen from
uncompleted or firm stocks written innovatively or critical plans provides organizations with the
ability to convey images unbelievably but legit. A written message is perpetual and utilized as
material. It further provides a reflection of the organization to potential clients and other
prospects. Tootelian and Ross (2000) argue that consumers purchases products they understand
effectively. Displaying about the quality of products to consumers is one of the best strategies to
get new customers. Moreover, consumers will also see the significance of your business in taking
care of consumers’ problems by assisting relative buyers to get whatever they need. In that case,
the more effective it is for buyers to understand what is being offered, the more the get the desire
to purchase your products. Hence, businesses need to label products and package them because
this is a major factor for buyers consider when determining products’ sales. Compulsory

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labelling is demanded for by the authorities and must be included on packaged products. Written
data is obligatory and considerate when consumer purchase products.
V. Literature Review
In an analysis, Price (2010) argued that consumers’ buying choice is depended on packaging of
the product and the brand image. The fundamental objective of this paper is to analyze how a
company’s brand image and consumers’ experience with different products affect their
perception over choices they make. The first hypothesis denotes that if a consumer has minimal
product experience in a given category of products, it is likely that they will select the products
that have been packaged attractively over companies with a stronger brand image. On the second
measure, consumers who have experienced more of a given product in a particular category will
make choices considering the brand’s image. The findings in this result support the main
hypothesis. The resultant data denotes that buyers consider most concerning the name of the
brand using attributes given to individual product packages. The findings were considered
striking for secondary consumers but were not regarded as an overweight to brand image
exploitation.
SEBEEHULLAH SHAH (2013) argues that difference autonomous factors of product packaging
affect the purchasing choice of dependent buyers. The analysis done at an educational institution
involved students and teachers with an age range of ten to twenty and thirty-one to forty
respectively. The paper also included participants based on their education qualifications and
status of marriage. In one hypothesis (denoted by H0), it was found that there is relevance in the
relationship between the purchasing behavior of buyers and innovation of product packaging.
From the same analysis, it was noticed that the buying choice of consumers is affects by

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packaging attributes allotted to different products. Labels given on products shows data such as
the exact date the product was manufactured, manufacturing place and procedure of product use.
The analysis’ conclusion states that packaging elements and labelling affect the purchasing
behavior of potential clients.
According to Katiyar (2014), different packaging of products has roles and factors of consumer
influence to the considered. The research involves a sample size of 100 participants that included
both male and female. All participants were subjected to testing factors affect consumer behavior
such as: brand image, color of packaging, material, wrapping design and written information.
Hypothesis H0 shows that no fundamental relationship exists between consumer behavior and
packaging of products. Later on, it was noticed that there is approximately 85% complete
association of consumer choice making in packaging of products. In the conclusion, the research
found that packaging affects the behavior of purchasers. The research also shows that individuals
with the highest educational qualifications were more attracted to written information whereas
their counterparts were fascinated with brand name.
In reference to Silayoi (2007), the design of product packaging plays a fundamental role. The
author reveals the importance of packaging as it acts as a pivot stimulant that enables buyers to
study the company’s brand image. The research uses different consumer issues and formulates a
conjoint analysis to determine purchasing behavior of Thailand consumers over packaged
products. From the research, it was noticed that consumers depend of the strategy of packaging
as an influence to their purchasing choice.
In another research conducted by Lifu (2012), the outward appearance of packaged products
manipulates the buying choice of consumers. The research shows that manufacturers use

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packaging as a strategy to advertise the quality of their products. This strategy explains why most
companies focus on developing the outward appearance of products to attract potential
consumers. This strategic approach is also useful when a company want to cut down on its
expenditure since most consumers go to supermarkets.
Ike-Elechi (2010) argues that the buying choice of parents is influenced by what their kids prefer
most. Using parents as a dependent variable, the research concludes that children also fall in love
with outward appearance of packaged products. The analyses apply a quantitative approach
(application of twenty-eight items in a questionnaire administered to 150 parents) to evaluate the
methodology section to collect relevant data. The research analysis showed that kids are affected
by packaged products because of their appearance hence indicating why most children end up
purchasing wrong products just because they were attracted to the package style.
A research conducted by Rizwan (2014) shows that there are fundamental elements that
influence the success of brands. Using 150 sample participants, Rizwan concluded that
packaging involves different factors like type of material, color, design, innovation technique
among other. These elements are what customers use to determine their purchasing point or
choice.
VI. SWOT Analysis
Strengths
For a company to excel it should employ various product designs during the process of
manufacturing in order to attain a competitive advantage in the marketplace. Various features
should be incorporated such as material and style of making a product for example when making
seats, its features should be more sophisticated (Alford, 2007). This will make the customer

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select based on the feature and parts they will love. An additional strength that most firms have
employed is color since most people go for color when buying their products. Women will prefer
bright color than men when buying a product.
Weaknesses
Product design may affect an organization negatively if the managers have not identified the
taste and preferences of their customers. Color and material may lead to a significant downtrend
of any organization if its products are not meeting their customer’s specifications (Haskell,
2004). Poor style used during making of a product can also affect the business.
Opportunities
According to the survey, color, material, style, and textual information are known factors that
affect consumer’s purchasing abilities (Dahl, 2011). Therefore since managers have identified
these factors they should strive to incorporate them in the marketing plans in order improve their
sales.
Threats
The present product designing process is improvised which creates much competition in the
marketing process (Mullins and Walker, 2013). Therefore, most managers are aware that
organizational employees do not put much effort in attaining organizational goals in the end.
Thus product design will be a hindrance in the marketing process.

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VII. Research Design
This research paper employs the use of various techniques and knowledge in substantiating many
processes such as data evaluation, sample collection, data collection techniques, its design, and
research process. Doing research requires excellent concentration since it involves acquiring
facts and figures that help in getting appropriate solutions to a problem. The research paper's
main aim is focused on finding out the function of packaging fundamentals in influencing
consumer behavior during purchase. As pointed out in the study there will be the use of primary
and secondary data.
Primary information was acquired through the use of structured questionnaires provided to
different respondents. On the other hand, secondary data was gathered from external sources
such as journals, online articles, textbooks, books, etc (Nguyen, 2011). The questionnaire was
used to access data from different respondents so that we could determine the effect of packaging
elements on consumer purchase. Additionally, there was the use of practical tools such as Excel
and SPSS which are reflected in the data analysis section.
VIII. Sampling
This part explains different methods which will be used during data collection about the
influence of packaging factors on customer buying process.
a) Descriptive statistics
In the section the quantitative segment of this study was aided by the use of a questionnaire.
According to the data, a prearranged questionnaire was presented to 120 respondents, although
100 acted in response to it. Therefore, the answer was deduced to be about 83% of the total
number. The number of respondents who participated has been categorized in table 1 according

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to their dynamic population characteristics. Respondents were grouped according to their origins,
occupations, age groups, and gender. Based on the 14 questions structured questionnaire only
395 respondents responded.

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The figures and tables shown below comprise of the frequencies and respondents proportion of
the variables correlating to the significance of consumer motivational factors.

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According to the results from the table 2 and figure 1, and the allotment of each respondent’s
response, it was found out that 57% are in agreement with the influence of color on consumer

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purchase, while 23% strongly agree to the above statement. About 15% of the respondents
strongly disagree on the impact of color on consumer purchase.
Results from table 3 and figure 2, and the allocation of each respondent's response show 51% are
in agreement about the packaging material influence on consumer purchase while 30% also

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strongly agree to the point. About 3% of the respondents strongly disagree on the impact of
packaging material effect on consumer purchase.
Centered from the attained figures in table 4 and figure 3 it is true that about 55% of the
population analyzed are in agreement with the effect of style n consumer buying activity. On the

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other hand, about 27% of the respondents strongly agree on the point. Lastly, about 4% of the
populations disagree to it.

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According to the output acquired from table 5 and figure 4 with the distribution of every
respondent's response, 45% of the population agrees that textual information affects consumer's
purchasing ability. Also, 35% strongly agree that printed information on a product may change
customer's purchase. About 5% of the respondent strongly disagreed to the idea.
IX. Finding/Results
In our findings, Sample T-Test was employed so that it can evaluate these packaging elements
which may influence consumer purchase abilities. This sampling method examines if the mean
of one variable is dissimilar to the other variable-centered from one fundamental constant.
Table 11 shows the general demographic mean of all the respondents. From the chart above, the
central tendency of all the variables is exhibited by the mean values. The number of each
interpretation of every variable is 100. The distribution of the benefits of a variable from its
mean is shown by the standard deviation. Therefore the lower value will be one while the
maximum amount will be 5.
Thus according to our results our findings should be based on the below hypothesis:

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H1: Packaging color influences consumer purchase
H2: The material used during packaging is essential during the purchasing
H3: The style of packaging influences customer’s purchase
H4: Textual data during packaging influences customer’s purchase
On the other hand, there is a huge disparity with the null hypothesis, the mean and the alternative
explanation. The small "p" value which is (<0.05), while “t” (which is >+2.0 or <-2.0) exhibits
that there is rejection with the null hypothesis and therefore it is deduced that the mean attained
is significant. Although with the small t and the p-value it will mean that all the means are the
same.

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From the results attained in table 7, it can be concluded that packaging factors have high effect
on customer buying attitude. Moreover, the table shows the big “t” and the small p-values.
Therefore our alternative hypotheses are valid.
X. Limitations and Managerial Implications
One of our greatest flaws is that there can be a shift in the demographic levels which
consequently affects the results obtained from the tables (Dahl, 2011). Additionally, a change in
the respondents will significantly lead to a change in the data.
Managerial implication
The results can be useful to managers since they can consider this and it will help them
satisfyingly serve their customers. This can be achieved by companies identifying various
weaknesses and strengths of each prospective customer so that they can finally provide quality
and outstanding results (Ingram, Albright and Hill, 2003). The researches feedback can be shared
equally to every organization facing marketing problems which will aid them in boosting their
marketing techniques thus making them understand more the customer’s preferences unlike
before.
Future direction
- Research should be carried out nationally by students to acquire the best results in the
future
- In the future research, there should be an increase in the sample population used to attain
quality results (Lee and Soman, 2008).
- There should be alternative discussions on customer expectation and satisfaction in the
future.

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XI. Conclusion and Recommendations
According to the findings shown during data analysis, it can be concluded that the position and
effect of the consumer purchasing process show:
- These packaging elements exhibit an appropriate way of providing data to the customers
since most customers cherish the data covered within the package.
- Color enables customers to identify their product, brand thus companies will be in a
position of drawing more customers closely by acquiring their interests and attention.
Thus color with other packaging elements brings the customer's perception of buying a
specific product.
- Textual information on the product helps customer know more about products such its
usage, ingredients and its effect. This makes the customer comfortable whether to decide
on purchasing it or not. The information also assists the company in advertising the
product.
According to the empirical data presented in the research, it is thus understood that information
relating to packaging is essential since it recognizes a company's brand image, its identity, and
aid various marketing communication tactics of a firm. Textual information on a product also has
the product’s description, price, and its quality that is helpful to every customer in knowing the
outcome and also helps in the decision-making process during purchase. The technique used
during packaging aids in boosting the customers understanding about a certain item in the
market. Based from the results acquired, it is true that the mentioned packaging features always
have an important part in the marketplace. In addition to this these elements mentioned in the
data analysis effect greatly consumer buying rate.

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XII. Bibliography
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XIII. Appendix - Questionnaire

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EFFECT OF PACKAGING DESIGN ON CONSUMER PURCHASE 29

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