Role and Objectives of Packaging
Question:
Discuss About The Effect Of Packaging On Consumer Perception?
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 marketing 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.
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 accounting that the concept of 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.
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 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.
Basic Model of Consumer Behavior
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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