The Impact of Packaging on Consumer Behaviour

The given assignment focuses on the crucial role of packaging in consumer perception and purchase intention. It highlights how packaging influences customer base and attraction towards a product, as well as its impact on behavioural patterns. The report further evaluates how cultural dimensions affect packaging, throwing light on the 4 Ps of marketing mix. Additionally, it examines social media trends related to packaging in relation to consumer behaviour.

Running head: THE EFFECT OF PACKAGING ON CONSUMER PERCEPTION
THE EFFECT OF PACKAGING ON CONSUMER PERCEPTION
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Acknowledgement
I take this excellent opportunity to thank all my mentors who have provided immense support
and venerated guidance throughout the course of my assignment. I express my sincere thanks
and gratitude to all of them for helping me out to understand the subject.

2THE EFFECT OF PACKAGING ON CONSUMER PERCEPTION
Abstract
The purpose of this report is to explore the impact as well as influence of product packaging
on consumer buying behaviour, which involves the perceptions and purpose of the
consumers. This report further tries to observe how several factors play a role in the decision
making process of consumers while purchasing a product. However, the consumer behaviour
is immensely dependable on the packaging and characteristics of the products. Thus,
packaging plays a vital role in this process. The elements related to packaging involves the
colour of the packaging, the material used for it, graphic design, information about the
product and several other details related to the product and the company. The expanding
trend of self-service and shifting consumer lifestyle, formulates packaging as a tool to
enhance the sales promotion and further act as a stimulator of purchase behaviour. Thus,
packaging acts as a significant tool in the field of marketing communication.
Key words: Consumer behaviour, Marketing Mix, Packaging

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4
Background................................................................................................................................4
Body of Report...........................................................................................................................5
Evaluation and Discussion.........................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................8
References..................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
The competitive and aggressive industry in recent times has the changed the role of
packaging because of its rising self-service and varied consumer demands and lifestyles.
Companies are relying more on packaging as a tool to gather consumers and enhance sales
promotion. The ever-rising competition and rivalry within global market has developed the
necessity for effective product marketing as well as promotion, which has thus made product
packaging a significant factor for brand communication process(Charter&Polonsky, 2017).
The packaging or casing component of any product is regarded as a vital element for the
success of failure of a give product. This report will briefly evaluate the role and objectives of
packaging and the basic model of consumer behaviour by shedding light on the marketing
mix and internal and external factors related to consumer behaviour.
Background
The word ‘packaging’ comprises of varied definitions from being simple and
functionally alert largely of holistic explanations. Packaging can be referred, as an attribute
associated with the product yet does not belong to the physical product itself. Packaging as
regarded as an extension of the product can often have greater significance that the product it
contains. According to reports, consumers tend to make immediate judgements while making
any purchase choices(Oliver, 2014). It is believed that it takes less than ten seconds for
consumers to make first impression on the basis of consequent assessments. Therefore, it
must be taken into consideration that packaging has its dependency on the representation of
brand loyalty and promise in order to deliver an excellent product quality experience. For
example, Starbucks prefers to label their products with a popular and effortlessly recognized
green mermaid medallion which further reflects their brand awareness and
recognition(Valentina, 2014). However, it must be taken into account that the concept of

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packaging comprises of several aspects and assessment related to the instructions for the
product usage, detailed graphic design, size and forms of physical containers for individual
product items with an external package. Three major objectives of packaging are as follows:
 Protection: The primary concern of packaging for several industrial products such as
components as well machinery is to enhance the protection while in transit. While
packaging for consumer goods comprises of a broader purpose.
 Cognizability: This objective is of immense importance for packaging industries as it
is extremely important to make a renowned brand innovative as well as appealing to
attract the target base. The role of product packaging is to enhance the charisma and
further emphasize the brand awareness and popularity(Hawley et al., 2013).
Packaging is intrinsically dependent on the promotional and marketing endeavours for
product segregation. Thus, it plays as an aid to advertising.
 Deficiency and Usage: A package appearance and design facilitates to magnetize
consumer attention and covey an recognizable image.
Body of Report
The term ‘consumer behaviour’is consideredas a study related to the act of individuals
who are further responsible in the involvement of purchasing and using products and
services. However, consumer behaviourincorporates the decision as well as evaluation
process, which operates to the act of purchase. In current times, social media has become a
major contributor to consumer behaviour. Several study suggests that consumers nowadays
express willingness to endorse and share their daily life actions with the rest of the world.
Thus, social media has played a crucial role in consumer behaviourism. Around forty percent
of overall consumers have shared their interest on sharing images or visuals of packaging on
social media if it gathers their attention or is worthy to be gifted(Vinerean et al., 2013). This

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is the reason,an increasing number of companies are nowadays relying on social media to
endorse their packaging with the world. Birchbox, is one such online brand that often
promotes blogs and advertisements with public(Smilansky, 2017). The term ‘marketing’
illustrates a mutually beneficial association where the role of a consumer is of immense
significance in the economy. It must be taken into account that the concept of consumer
behaviourism lies at the fundamental level of the marketing strategy. However, the concept of
consumer behaviour is a complex subject to understand but plays a vital role to productive
and efficient marketing processes. Several aspects such as actions, reciprocity to the products
as well as services, perceptions, notions, advertising and societal influenceshape the
behaviour of consumers. Consumer behaviour can be observed with the help of a tool known
as marketing mix(Gilaninia, Taleghani&Azizi, 2013). The marketing stimuli incorporates
four Ps namely, product, place, price and lastly promotion.
 Product: The management of products comprises of strategy building as well as
developing proper products and services, which the company advertises through
several policy strategies. These procedures are required to alter the market scenario of
the products, introducing new items to the market and require further assessments
related to branding, wrapping and packaging, colouring along with other product
aspects.The role of cultural disparity is worth mentioning as it influences the
companies’decisions and initiatives to design their product package in accordance to
the cultural dimensions of the particular nation(Labrecque, Patrick & Milne, 2013).
For example, there is a difference in packaging colours in the West and Far East.
 Place:Under this strategy, the marketer or seller must work on proper selection and
control the trade links and associations to acquire proper accessibility growth at the
scheduled time. The duty of the marketer must involve establishing an effective
distribution channel for physically maintaining and product transportation with the

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help of several intermediaries. It must be taken into account that each product requires
varied transportation mode and unique type of warehousing.
 Price: The marketers under this strategy must pay attention to the cost and
establishment policies of the product and discounts related to the product.
 Promotion:Under the promotion strategy, the role of the marketer is to notify as well
as persuade the buyers about the services of the company. Types of promotion include
advertising, individual trade, sales promotional activities and alike.
Evaluation and Discussion
One of the major issues, which occur while designing the packaging of a product, is to
match the specific traditions and cultural values of the respective region or country. This
issue generally rises with the brands who cater all across the globe. The concept of packaging
standardization can be regarded as efficient because of its universal efficacy. A need for a
multicultural approach to packaging has been identified within the vivid communication
domain(Pousette et al., 2014). It helps the products to be meaningful and relevant while being
introduced in global markets. The first and foremost visual that catches consumers’ sight is
the packagingand practicality. The responsibility of the packagingis to promote itself to the
client. It must be taken into account that the fundamental responsibility of a multicultural
package is to act as a viable contender in the market that is unknown but gain brand
popularity over time(Huang &Sarigöllü, 2014). The concept of multicultural is yet to be
established and further addressed in relation the practicality as it varies from country to
country. In this context, the idea of iconography usage has been implemented. However, it
lacks certainty whether the bylaws of International Standards of Organization will allow in
relation to the reduced written disclaimers stated on product packaging.

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Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be concludedthat packaging act as a
crucial factor for consumer perception as well as purchase intention. The element of
packaging helps in maintaining customer base and attraction towards the product and at the
same time have direct influence on the behavioural patterns of consumers. However, the
report evaluates how consumer behaviour can be observed by throwing light on the 4 Ps of
consumer behaviour and further examines how cultural dimensions causes an effect on
packaging. The paper in addition to this discusses about the ongoing social media trend on
packaging in relation to consumer behaviour.

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References
Charter, M., &Polonsky, M. J. (Eds.). (2017). Greener marketing: a global perspective on
greening marketing practice. Routledge.
Gilaninia, S., Taleghani, M., &Azizi, N. (2013). Marketing mix and consumer
behavior. Kuwait Chapter of the Arabian Journal of Business and Management
Review, 2(12), 53.
Hawley, K. L., Roberto, C. A., Bragg, M. A., Liu, P. J., Schwartz, M. B., & Brownell, K. D.
(2013). The science on front-of-package food labels. Public health nutrition, 16(3),
430-439.
Huang, R., &Sarigöllü, E. (2014). How brand awareness relates to market outcome, brand
equity, and the marketing mix. In Fashion Branding and Consumer Behaviors (pp.
113-132). Springer, New York, NY.
Labrecque, L. I., Patrick, V. M., & Milne, G. R. (2013). The marketers’ prismatic palette: A
review of color research and future directions. Psychology & Marketing, 30(2), 187-
202.
Oliver, R. L. (2014). Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer. Routledge.
Pousette, S., Löfgren, M., Nilsson, B., &Gustafsson, A. (2014). An extended method to
measure overall consumer satisfaction with packaging. Packaging Technology and
Science, 27(9), 727-738.
Smilansky, S. (2017). Experiential marketing: A practical guide to interactive brand
experiences. Kogan Page Publishers.

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Valentina, A. (2014). Creative Coffee Packaging Technical+ Aesthetic. Bandung Creative
Movement (BCM).
Vinerean, S., Cetina, I., Dumitrescu, L., &Tichindelean, M. (2013). The effects of social
media marketing on online consumer behavior. International Journal of Business and
Management, 8(14), 66.