Labeling And Packaging On Consumer Buying Behavior

Published Date: 02 Nov 2017

To find relationship between labeling and packaging on consumer buying behavior

To find out whether brand image affects the relationships of packaging on consumer buying behavior

To find out the affect brand image has on the relationship between labeling and consumer buying behavior

Questionnaire Design

The questionnaire is designed in manner to elucidate the thinking process of a customer while he is involved in a purchase. The questionnaire design id simplistic in nature to get the responses in the least possible number of questions as my past experience has made me learn that respondents do not like surveys which are lengthy, and demand an attention span of more than a minute or two. The questionnaire should be worded properly so that respondents are able to understand it irrespective of age, profession, educational qualification etc.

The questionnaire consists of 12 questions multiple choices in nature asking respondents to rate a particular attribute easily.

The first 3 questions are related to demographics asking the personal information of the respondent. The question about the gender is to identify the involvement and effect of gender in buying and the consequent effect of packaging/ labeling on male and females respectively and what importance it holds for them. The place of residence helps in establishing the relationship between the divide in the mind of the consumer due to the place they live in. It would help in segregating the different mindset developed due to different place of living.

The first question after the personal information section sets the tone for the questionnaire. The respondents are asked if packaging has any sort of influence on their purchase decision. Is it at all important while making a purchase decision? If they are influenced, then we ask them which attribute of packaging influences their decision. They are presented with 7 attributes of packaging.

The respondents are presented with a particular statement and they have to state if they agree with the statement or not. Likert scale has been employed to get the responses ranging from ‘strongly

disagree’ to ‘strongly agree’. In these questions, we are trying to establish if packaging has any impact on the brand image, if it creates a perception about the quality of the product, whether people are conscious about the material used, what effect does it has on the environment and if it differentiates between branded and unbranded products etc.

Independent Variable

Font Style

Background image

Packaging Color

Consumer Buying Behavior

Convenient to handle

Printed Information

Packaging Material

Design of wrapperThe last question is a matrix structure in which we have certain product categories in the column and product attributes in the rows to seek how consumer preferences vary across different product categories in terms of packaging attributes.

Hypothesis

Dependent variable

The respondents were provided with both low involvement and high involvement products so as to get a holistic view.

Hypothesis 1

Packaging is important so it helps in buying

Consumer purchase decision is affected by a lot of things. It could anything from cognitive to behavioral learning to external or internal stimulus. Through this hypothesis, we try to find out if packaging is a factor which the consumers consider while making a purchase decision.

Hypothesis 2

Better packaged products have high brand image.

The first thing that a consumer notices about a product is its packaging and it tells a lot about the character of the brand and its quality. The quality of the package will either have a positive or negative influence about the product and the consumer might not even consider even trying or consuming the product. This could lead to heavy losses for the sales team and organization on a whole. Bad packaging might create a never brand image in the mind of the consumer which would create a bad name about the brand.

Hypothesis 3

Packaging help me differentiate the products.

In today’s world the FMCG space is too cluttered for a common consumer to be understood and differentiate. Under such circumstances packaging may help to make your product standout. Many people think that if the packaging is good, the product would also be good. People can feel the difference by touching, feeling and seeing the product. If the thing they hold in hand feels good, they feel the same about the actual product. If the packaging is not up to the mark, then the consumers might perceive the quality of the product to be also low.

Hypothesis 4

Packaging misleads buyers by giving them wrong information.

Generally the products that are used on daily basis and consumers don’t even consider looking at the information given on the label. They have been using the product for quite some time and are well versed with the usage and quality of the product. But sometimes customers might feel

cheated while using a new product when they do not get what the label of the product describes about the product. So this aspect of packaging misleading the consumers is also important to look at.

Hypothesis 5

Branded products have a better packaging than Unbranded products

A brand is a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers." A brand is thus a product or service whose dimensions differentiate it in some ways from other products or services designed to satisfy the same need. Through this hypothesis we try to prove that branded products offer better packaging than non-branded products. Consumers tend to have a perception about products and brands. They also have expectations in terms of the quality of the product or the service when they hear about any brand.

Hypothesis 6

Weight of the Packaging influences consumer purchase decisions.

To understand the consumer perception in no aspect of the packaging cannot be neglected. One my never know what may appeal the customer or what may turn him down to realize the moment of truth. A simple attribute like weight may change the way consumers think and hence they can make relevant choices. Same is true with the marketer. This hypothesis tries to find the importance of weight/storage capability of the package.

Hypothesis 7

Packaging material influences consumer purchase decisions.

Some products are wrapped in opaque material/ see through packaging, others in hard cover, plastic, glass or even steel. This hypothesis tries to find the importance of packaging material in the consumer decision making. Good and unique quality material might attract more consumers as compared to low quality or regular material.

Hypothesis 8

There is relationship between buying behavior and the way products are packaged/wrapping design

A consumer might be influenced by the way a product is packaged i.e., he/she may like to buy products packaged in a certain manner. We will try to establish if there is a relationship between buying behavior and the wrapper design. The package design could be the shape of a bottle, case or box.

Limitation of the project

Like every research work that is being conducted this one also has a few limitations. I tried my level best to evaluate every possible aspect of packaging that a consumer could come across but few things that could impact the outcome and are crucial are:

The age of respondents is probably the major limitation that is there in the research that is being carried out because when consumer behavior is involved, age is not a constraint when we go to buy certain product. The age group of the respondents was between 20-30 years of age. So the results could not be generalized to result obtained to teenagers or people above the age group of 30.

Although income of the respondents was taken in the survey nothing could be said in particular about the spending habits and lifestyle of the respondents. So a direct correlation between the levels of income and the preference level of packaging.

The questions that were asked were more on the functional level but not on the emotional or cognitive level of the respondent which is becoming important day to day. Therefore the kind of emotional appeal that packaging creates could not be understood from the questionnaire.

We could not find why consumers get influence by the packaging of products. What is the basic motivation for them to buy a well packaged product?

Since the scope of the project was limited it was not possible to get the in depth detail about each product category that was being asked. For example food product includes many sub-categories like snacks, biscuits, healthy food etc. So is the preference for several packaging attributes same across all sub-categories.

Analysis and findings

Hypothesis Proving

Hypothesis 1

H0 : Packaging is not important so doesn’t helps in buying

H1 : Packaging is important so helps in buying

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Packaging is not important so doesn’t helps in buying

81

1.9506

1.03563

.11507

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 5

T

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Packaging is not important so doesn’t helps in buying

-26.500

80

.000

-3.04938

-3.2784

-2.8204

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands rejected since the mean value is 1.95 with a significance of 0.000. Qualitatively, this means that people perceive that packaging is important so helps in buying. Hence, the null hypothesis stands rejected.

Hypothesis 2

H0 : Better packaged products have high brand image.

H1 : Better packaged products do not have a high brand image.

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Better packaged products have high brand image

81

2.1235

1.05336

.11704

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 2

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Better packaged products have high brand image

1.055

80

.295

.12346

-.1095

.3564

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands true since the mean value is 2.13 with a significance of 0.295. Qualitatively, this means that people do not perceive that better packaged products have higher brand image. As discussed earlier, packaging is the first interaction that a product has with the consumer. There is a saying that ‘First impression is the last impression’ and this goes true for packaging as well. Hence, the null hypothesis is accepted and stands valid.

Hypothesis 3

H0 : Packaging does not help in differentiating the products

H1 : Packaging helps me differentiate the products

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Packaging does not help in differentiating the products

81

2.3951

1.11444

.12383

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 2

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Packaging does not help in differentiating the products

3.190

80

.002

.39506

.1486

.6415

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands rejected since the mean value is 2.39 with a significance of 0.02. Qualitatively, this means that people perceive that packaging helps in differentiating the products. Hence, the null hypothesis stands rejected.

Hypothesis 4

H0 : Packaging misleads buyers by giving them wrong information.

H1 : Packaging does not misleads buyers and does not gives them wrong information.

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Packaging misleads buyers by giving them wrong information

81

3.0741

1.04616

.11624

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 4

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Packaging misleads buyers by giving them wrong information

-7.966

80

.000

-.92593

-1.1573

-.6946

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands rejected since the mean value is 3.07 with a significance of 0.00. Qualitatively, this means that people perceive that packaging does not mislead them and does not provides them with wrong information. Hence, the null hypothesis stands rejected.

Hypothesis 5

H0 : Branded products do not have a better packaging than Unbranded products

H1 : Branded products have a better packaging than Unbranded products

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Branded products have a better packaging than Unbranded products

81

2.8519

1.08525

.12058

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 2

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Branded products have a better packaging than Unbranded products

7.064

80

.000

.85185

.6119

1.0918

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands rejected since the mean value is 2.85 with a significance of 0.00. Qualitatively, this means that people believe that branded products are packaged in a better manner than unbranded products and have better packaging features. Hence, the null hypothesis stands rejected.

Hypothesis 6

H0 : Weight of the Packaging does not influences consumer purchase decisions.

H1 : Weight of the Packaging influences consumer purchase decisions

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Weight of the Packaging influences consumer purchase decisions

81

3.1235

1.06516

.11835

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 2

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Weight of the Packaging influences consumer purchase decisions

9.493

80

.000

1.12346

.8879

1.3590

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands rejected since the mean value is 3.12 with a significance of 0.00. Qualitatively, this means that people believe that weight of the packaging plays an important part in influencing the buying decision. Since it would be difficult to carry the product if the packaging is too heavy and is not needed otherwise too. Hence, the null hypothesis stands rejected.

Hypothesis 7

H0 : Packaging material do not influences consumer purchase decisions

H1 : Packaging material influences consumer purchase decisions

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

Packaging material influences consumer purchase decisions

81

2.9259

1.00968

.11219

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 4

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

Packaging material influences consumer purchase decisions

-9.574

80

.000

-1.07407

-1.2973

-.8508

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands rejected since the mean value is 2.92 with a significance of 0.00. Qualitatively, this means that people believe that material used in packaging influences customer purchase decision. Hence even if the quality of your product might be great but that of packaging material is not that good, people might perceive that as negative and it may hurt your product’s brand image. Hence, the null hypothesis stands rejected.

Hypothesis 8

H0: There is no relationship between buying behavior and the way products are packaged/wrapping design

H1: There is relationship between buying behavior and the way products are packaged/wrapping design

One-Sample Statistics

N

Mean

Std. Deviation

Std. Error Mean

There is relationship between buying behavior and the way products are packaged/wrapping design

81

2.6790

1.17076

.13008

One-Sample Test

Test Value = 3

t

df

Sig. (2-tailed)

Mean Difference

95% Confidence Interval of the Difference

Lower

Upper

There is relationship between buying behavior and the way products are packaged/wrapping design

-2.468

80

.016

-.32099

-.5799

-.0621

From the above results, we can see that the null hypothesis stands rejected since the mean value is 2.67 with a significance of 0.016. Qualitatively, this means that people believe that there exists a positive relationship between the buying behavior and the way products are packaged/wrapping design. Hence, the null hypothesis stands rejected.

Summary

The first thing that shoppers come across when going to buy a product is the packaging of the product and this line itself clarifies the importance of the packaging for FMCG space. Packaging is what the consumer sees, feels, reads and handles. The impact of packaging is most probably in the subconscious mind of the customer and it makes the impact while the product is itself in the shelf by getting noticed and ultimately purchased without even consumed before or sometimes even known.images.jpgwood_packaging_design_1.jpg

These days packaging has not been just limited to high-end electronics to packaged foods, companies are also increasing their focus on incorporating more distinctive packaging that attracts a loyal customer base and adds value for the brand and customer alike. Customers become so conscious about the packaging carried out by a particular brand that they just want to buy the product on basis of its packaging and advertising. One possibly close example could be Absolut Vodka, where the unique design of the bottle has been a key influencer for many years now in making Absolut highest selling vodka worldwide.

Although packaging styles, needs and strategies differ among companies, there are three common packaging considerations that are becoming essential to a positive retail experience for consumers.

Differentiation among brands

In this cluttered market of brands it becomes very difficult for both the marketer to make their brand stand out and other side for the customer to identify with a brand. The solution lies in the packaging and advertising of the product. Brand owners know that during any shopping experience a distinctive, well designed and functional package adds considerable value in influencing shopper perceptions and purchasing decisions in the retail environment. It enhances brand communication, supports product positioning and helps a product stand out on the shelf.

Consider the focus Nike carries out on not ony designing the product bit also the packaging that makes the brand stand out and customer feels like standing above everyone else. Or Plum Organics' squeezable baby food packs that eliminate the need for spoons, making feeding less messy.

Packaging is the easiest and the best way to communicate consumers what is cool, convenient or functional. It tells consumers whether a product is low or high-quality, expensive or inexpensive, meant for you or meant for someone else.

In a retail environment, a brand's packaging is, in essence, its own point of sale display. The shape, materials, colors and design of the package are important to drawing shoppers in and communicating what the product is all about.

Security of the product

The original concept before the marketing of the products started and packaging started to play out even bigger role was to protect the product from getting damaged. Millions of dollars are lost by retailers and brand owners as a result of damage.

Better packaging is their first line of defense. With invention of plastic and tetra packs the liquid products are now much easier to store and consume. While its most basic purpose is to protect the product inside, a package should also be strong enough to withstand damage itself, as most shoppers will push a damaged package aside in search of a perfect one.

It's more sustainable

In this modern age, customers have time and again proved that they are the true kings. With more and more people today becoming educated and aware of what impact do they leave on the environment around them due to their consumption patterns and how a responsible customer along with a producer should take necessary steps, it’s imperative for the company’s to understand their will and adapt accordingly.

The 2008 GfK Roper Green Gauge study revealed that nearly three-quarters of Americans say they know a lot or a fair amount about environmental issues and problems, and want products that are beneficial to their health and the health of the environment. These consumers don't base their choices on corporate information, such as companies' websites or newsletters. Instead, they evaluate a product's sustainability at the point of sale — by its package. In fact, nearly three-quarters of U.S. consumers say they check the packaging labels as a source for environmental information about a product.

So packaging needs to effectively communicate the sustainable aspects of both the product and the package itself. In poor, underdeveloped and certain developing countries examples have been found on how people use the packets after the products have been consumed and it shows consumer's perception of waste. In addition, packaging also impacts the satisfaction or guilt a consumer feels about her own contribution to sustainability when she tosses it in the garbage or recycling bin.

In short it should be the common goal of both producer as well as consumer to be responsible towards mother earth and play their roles responsibly. Innovations in packaging innovation help achieve sustainability goals, whether by reducing packaging or plastic weight, providing reusability or recoverability, and/or making the most effective use of natural resources.