The Impact of Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior

Research Objectives The main aim of this study is to determine the effects of packaging a product on the consumer buyer behavior. Therefore, the main objectives of this study will be:Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on The Impact of Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More To investigate the impacts of product packaging in promoting consumer buyer behavior. To identify the effects of proper packaging in enhancing brand recognition by consumers. To identify and determine the key elements of package design that enable to build customer royalty. Background Building of consumer loyalty and promotion of consumer behavior are key factors which have to be considered especially when putting out a new product in the market. Many factors have to be considered to make the new product to gain recognition from the consumers. Among them is proper packaging of the product so as to attract new customers and also retain the old ones (Biddle et al., 2003). This is because product packaging is an essential element in determining the consumer behavior to a specific good (Kauppien, 2004). Many traders in the world spend a lot of money conducting research to determine the most efficient method of packaging goods so as to impact on consumer behavior (Jugger, 1999, p. 53). Product packaging is mainly dependant on the culture of the target market and environmental effects of the product. As it is, firms spend a lot of money on packaging their products in such a way which is aimed at winning the eye of the consumer which makes it to have a positive impact on consumer behavior. For example breakfast cereals are packed with cartoon images on the box to attract young children who are the target market. Dairy products on the other hand have got either drawings of healthy cows or fresh milk which creates an impression of the high quality of the product to the consumer. All this aims at boosting the sale of the product by attracting the eye of the consumer. People are inclined to buy items they recognize with (Shaw et al., 2005, 67-88). Through exellent packaging a brand earns an element known as Distinctive Asset which is a non brand element of the product that is uniquely linked to the memory of consumers (Romaniuk and Hartnett, 2010). Distinctive Asset should only be for one type of commodity for a wide variety of similar goods. As a result a consumer can easily identify this product from the other brands and purchase it (Romanuik and Sharp, 2004). Coming up with a brand name for a product is mainly the work of the managerial staff of the manufacturing company. However, a lot of effort is needed in the designing of the package of the product.Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More This is because it is the package which is in physical contact with the c onsumer at the retail level (Warlop et al., 2005; Zeithaml, 1988; Rossiter and Percy, 1987). The package should therefore be distinct from the others and be designed in an attractive way so as to get the attention of the customer. The distinctive elements on the package of a product make it easier for the consumer to memorize and identify a brand easily. Better understanding of this concept will lead to the development of an appropriate tool for product design, package testing and consumer behavior (Krohn, 1995). Particular elements of packaging It is common for a consumer not to recognize a good due to its dull mode of packaging. This reduces the selling rates of the product and if the firm is not careful then it may run into losses. It is therefore necessary to have a bright an attractive package for a product (Aribag et al., 2010, p. 36). Packaging is an essential element in helping a consumer to decide whether to purchase a product or not. That is why dairy products have cows on their packages and cereals have cartoons on theirs which first of all attracts a customer and due to its appealing nature makes the customer to have the need of purchasing the product. As stated in the works of Pringle and Binet (2005) peoples background and their environmental beliefs can have an effect in the consumers choice making process while purchasing a product (p. 203). Hindus view cows as sacred animals thus the chances of the ignoring a product because it has the drawing of a cow on the side is high. Christians on the other hand will have a higher chance of purchasing the product because they do not have any negative attitudes towards cows. The same case applies to Muslims in relation to pigs. Books and magazines on the other hand have pictures of attractive men and women on the cover to attract a specific target group of consumers (Sandhusen, 2000, p.19). Packaging of goods has a much more important impact then what majority of the people realize (Schiffman and Bednall, 2005, p. 56-67). The essentiality of packaging has made many businesses to spend a lot of time and money to package their products in an exellent way. That is why they use expensive packaging materials for their product.Advertising We will write a custom dissertation sample on The Impact of Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More For intance, it is cheaper to use a shinny plastic covering as compared to plain cardboard and paper for packaging but most businesses preffer to use the latter in packing their products instead of the former. A picture of a healthy cow or delicious cereal on the side of the cover does not necessarily mean that the product is of that quality but instead it creates this impression to the buyer. The product therfore sells as a result of good representation. There are many circumstances that people have purchased a product without knowing its quality because of the mere fact that the cover or the packaging of the product was interesting (Schiffman and Bednall, 2005, p. 56-67). Consumers all over the world have bought many commodities as a resullt of this behaviour which relies on the power of packaging (Ritter, 2000, p.41). This behaviour may even be more extreme when we consider foodstuff. Many foodstuffs have got an attractive packaging which are so tempting to consumers. Quite often do people purchase frozen food as a mere result of only considering the graphics which appear on the sides of the package. Very few of them actally do try to investigate whether the product inside the package resembels the one which is on the cover. According to Schiffman and Bendall (2005) on one occasion you pay money for a product and are pleased with it, there is no notice paid to the wrapping (p.56-67). There are also those products which we know that their quality is not that good but we end up buying them because of their atractive packaging, now what about the con sumers who are seeing the product for the first time? It is definate that the consumer will pay money for this product (Gofman Mets, 2010, p. 160). On the other hand, if the product had poor packaging and the consumer does not know its quality, there are high chances that he will ignore this product and purchase a product which has got a suprrior packaging quality. Packaging is approximately the whole thing when it comes to getting purchaser to buy the manufactured goods (Gaillard, 2007). How many times have somebody passed himself a plain looking private brand eatable product (Shaw et al., 2005, p. 187).Advertising Looking for dissertation on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Designing of packaging Another important consumer consideration is the form which manufactured goods come in. Most packages are designed in such a way to potray an impression that the products contained within them are of a superioir quality (Dickson Sawyer, 1990, p.46). An example is putting a small sized product in a box that is ten times its size which has got a lot of attractive graphics (Shaw et al., 2005, p. 188). Once the product has been purchased, the consumer is surprised to see a small sized commodity inside, something which he/she did not expect. Many business believe that having a well designed package will enable them to sell their produts at a higher price (Cave Bost,1996, p. 644). Since some of these consumers have never used the product before there is a high chance that they will be satisfied with the initial quality of the product (Sharp, 2010, p. 4). The business therefore would have succeeded in selling their product, satisfy the consumer needs and earn consum er loyalty. All this is as a result of having a good design for the products package. The package should be environmental friendly, more preferably a bio-degradable that decomposes easily into the ground hence reducing the amount of waste in the environment (Cross, 1997, p. 68). The package should also have attractive features which will attract the consumer and at the same time potray the quality of the product to the consumer (Egan, 2000)For the case of dairy products, a picture of a healthy cow and fresh milk or delicious cow will work (Stanton, 2001, p. 19). The cost of packaging should also be considered (Pieters Warlop, 1999, p.12). Using expensive materials for packaging will lead to a high selling price of the commodity, a condition which should be avoided. On the other hand a poor quality package will make the consumer to assume that the product is of low quality although this might not be the case (Geistfeld et al., 1977, p. 303). Therefore, the cost of packaging should b e moderate but the packaging team should ensure that the package is of the best standards as per the money spent (Baker, 2008, p. 3). Research Hypothesis A research hyothesis is a core statement of the study which is used to define the main aim of the experiment (Shuttleworth, 2008). The research hypothesis will formulated by using the process of inductive reasoning where normal observations are use to formulate the hypothesis. In most cases a research question is used to formulate the hypothesis of the study. In the case of consumer response to the packaging of dairy products we can formulate the following question; do consumers respond to the packaging of dairy products? This ststement is somehow broad thus to narrow it to our research topic we can formulate the followingg statement; consumers respond positively to the packaging of dairy products. This is our study hypotheses. In research we have two forms of hypothesis: null hypothesis and alternate hypothesis. Null hypothesis is a statement of no difference in that the independent variable has got no effect to the dependent variable while alternate hypothesis is a statement of difference in that the independent variable has got an effect the dependant variable (Quick MBA, 2010). The following statements will be the null and alternate hypothesis of this study. Null hypothesis(HO): consumers respond positively to the package design of dairy products. Altrnate hypothesis(H1): consumers do not respond positively to the package design of dairy products. The validity of the hypothesis will be determined after inferential statistics has been done. If the results will be in a certain range of the confidence level then the null hypothesis will be true. However, if the results will be below the accepted range of confidence level then the null hypothesis will be seen as being a false statement and the alternate hypothesis will now be the true ststement (Marshall, 2008). Methodology To collect the relevant information needed for this research, it will be necessary to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. The entire project will follow the following steps: Task 1: Secondary Data (Qualitative Data) Before one decides to spend a lot of time and money in collecting primary data, it is advised that secondary data should first be reviewed. Secondary data is important because it helps in attaining a better understanding of the topic of research. Previous works which have been done in this topic will be reveiwed and their findings and recommendations will be considered. Secondary data can also come in handy in formulating the most appropriate methods of designing the questionaires which will be used to gather primary information of the research. As result, the questionaires which will be designed will contain questions that will lead to the collection of relevant data for the study. However, there are some instances where secondary data is really not helpful. Secondary data can be disadvantagi ous if they do not have a direct relationship with the topic of study. This gives room for decrease in the accuracy and reliability of data that has been collected. Method: Literature Review Secondary data will be attained by reviewing works which have been done in the field of marketing especially in the case of consumer response on dairy products through proper packaging. This may include the works on buyer behaviour and marketing strategies which have been done in the field of dairy products. This data can be obtained from books, magazines, peer reviewd journals, online articles and other relevant sources. Through literature review, the methods which had been used in the previous studies can also be borrowed and applied in the current study. Also the reccommendations of the previous studies will be considered in the current work. Information from literature review is therefore used as a guiding tool in conducting the present study. Task 2: Primary Data (Quantitative Data) Primary data is used to suppliment the data which was collected during literature review. Primary data is the data which has been collected directly from the field. The main aim of this step is to identify and determine the attitudes and perceptions of consumers towards product packaging and the relationship of consumer priority of choosing a particular brand of a product with designs which have been used to package these products. The primary data which we will need for this study are: Socioeconomic characteristics and the number of consumers. The mental characteristics and social behaviour of the consumers. Attitudes and perceptions of the consumers. Awareness of consumers to the available brands of dairy products. Consumer behaviour Reasons for purchsing products of a specific brand Method: Exploratory qualitative To gain quantitative data, questionnaires will be administered to the target groups using the following procedure: There will be a total of four sessions to conduct intervi ews each day. The interviews will be conducted in the morning, midday, evening and at night. The number of participants in each session will range from 8 and 10 individuals. The age of the participants will range between 15-60 years. This will ensure that the attitudes of members of all age groups are tested. Each session will last for a duration of around 60-90 minutes. Techniques: Construction (visual) All of the interviews will be conducted by the researcher together with the help of a moderator. This will ensure that all topics of the study have been precisely covered. To ensure this a pre-determined agenda will be used. Task 3: Analysis of qualitative data and questionnaire designing In order to construct a questionnaire that will be precise and straight to the point, qualitative data has to be analyzed and interpreted first. This information will assist in the making the questionnaire making it to become more powerful in the collection of quantitative data. The resulting ques tionnaire therefore will be precise, flexible and be able to collect only the relevant data that is needed for the research study. Method: Qualitative data coding and survey conducting preparation The data that will be obtained from interviews conducted on the target groups will undergo statistical coding to reveal the trends and sequences of the data obtained and a final report will be made. The inferences which will be arrived at from the analysis of qualitative data together with the information from literature review will be used to structure the questionnaire to reflect only the relevant information for the study. Task 4: Primary research (quantitative) Primary data is used to refer to data which has been collected directly from the area of study. In the case of this study questionnaires will be used to collect this vital information. This will help us to obtain first hand information which will help to explore the research objectives and gain statistical data which is necessar y for data analysis. The questionnaires will be structured in such a way so as to minimize the occurrence of errors and which may make the data collected from the field to become unreliable. Careful measures will be taken to avoid this. Prior to the conduction of the interviews the validity of the questionnaires will have been tested and approved for use. Method: Survey Structured questionnaires will be used to collect data from the target group. These questionnaires will consist of an average of 12 questions which will structured in such a way that one question will be leading to the other. About 115 individuals will be interviewed face to face for five straight days. This includes weekends. The interviews will be conducted around supermarkets and busy stores. The target group will be composed of individuals aged between 15-60 years. This will assist in getting the attitudes of consumers of all age groups both the young and the old. Random sampling technique will be used to get the individuals to be interviewed in the study in order to avoid biasness. Task 5: Analysis of collected information Raw data from the field is of no use since it does not make sense. It is mainly composed of numbers and codes which need to be analyzed in order to make sense. Analysis of data involves three major steps: Data preparation which involves the organization of the data which has been collected for easy analysis. Descriptive statistics which entails the description and interpretation of the data which has been collected. This can be done by the use of charts and bar graphs to explain the trends which have been observed. Inferential statistics that is done to test whether the data which has been collected is consistent with the hypothesis of the study. This is where either the null hypothesis or alternative hypothesis is proved to be true. Method: SPSS 16.0 For accurate analysis of the statistical data a computer programme called SPSS 16.0 will be used for descriptive data a nalysis. The data will be explored using descriptive statistics and histogram plots will be used to determine the shape of the distribution for each sample variable. The name given to each variable for the purpose of the data analysis will be given in a table. Data analysis will be carried out using parametric tests where the data will follow a normal distribution and where the sample number will equal to or greater statistical power. Where the data will not follow a normal distribution or where the data will be split into groups of less than the sample size (n), non-parametric test will be used. For example a Pearson correlation test will be carried out on the data to explore any linear relationships between the variables. Task 6: Presentation of findings and conclusions After the results have been analyzed then the next step is to draw the final conclusions and recommendations of the study. From here the final dissertation can be compiled which will have an additional section of d iscussing the results. It is here where the arguments for and against the research are raised in response to the data that was collected and analyzed. If need be the final dissertation can be published in peer reviewed journals and further studies on the topic can be conducted. The next step is to implement the findings from the research. In this case for example, the conclusions and recommendations about consumer response to the packaging of dairy products will be implemented in the design of the packages of the dairy product. Thus the best way forward as per the research findings will be implemented. Monitoring the progress of the method is necessary to see whether the method is successful or not. Time Scale ACTIVITY TIME LITERATURE REVIEW AND WRITING OF THE PROPOSAL DRAFT. APRIL 2011 RECONNAISSANCE TRIP MAY 2011 DATA COLLECTION JUNE 2011 DATA ANALYSIS JULY 2011 REPORT WRITING AUGUST 2011 REPORT PRESENTATION SEPTEMBER 2011 Value of Research This research is of gr eat value especially to brand marketing teams of various businesses. It helps the marketing teams to determine how the packaging designs and elements of packaging influence consumers’ choice of a certain product and brand. This is because the consumers of these days are becoming more brand sensitive in that they only purchase goods of a specific brand due to consumer loyalty. It is therefore necessary for brand marketing teams to understand consumer priorities of package design so as to develop an original package design for a commodity which is attractive and will easily establish its identity in the mind of the consumer biasing his decision making to purchase the product over other brands. As a result the will easily identify the product and purchase it. This research also helps a company to know and understand the consumer behavior. This is an essential element in the success of marketing strategies. By understanding consumer behavior, the manufacturer will satisfy the con sumer needs by giving them what they want, where they want it and how they want it. Once the customer is satisfied with the product he/she becomes loyal to the brand leading to an increase in sales. The results of this research will be an essential tool that will help in the decision making process. This is because the research will bring out a clear picture of what is currently going on in the market and will come up with a range of options that can be implemented in order to achieve the desired results. By conducting this study we will be able to determine the consumer response to packaging, the consumer behavior and consumer trends. With this information, it becomes easier to make key decisions which will help us achieve our set objectives. Most importantly, by conducting this research we will be able to determine the consumer response to packaging. This is the main objective of this study. After the research has been done we will be able to know whether the design of packaging i nfluences consumer behavior from the random purchase of the brand or not. From these results then we will be able to know whether to spend money in improving the package of our brands or not. Lastly, this research will also act as a good source of information for secondary data which might be required by other people who wish to conduct a research on the same topic. This is because research is dynamic by allowing further study to be carried on for the same topic. That is why at the end of every research there is a segment of recommendation which offers avenues for further research on the topic. Limitations The first limitation of this study is the location where the research is conducted in. as this research is dealing with dairy products the most likely location for the study is around supermarkets and shops which sell fast moving goods. Thus the research will be localized in areas within London where the biggest supermarkets are situated. These areas include Tesco, Sainsburyâ€⠄¢s and Asda. This implies that only the research will be conducted only in specific areas minimizing the aspect of random sampling which gives more accurate results when applied. This is because the investigations of consumer attitude towards the packaging of commodities will be conducted only in a particular area around the UK. Another limitation to this study is based on the fact that the consumers in the supermarkets have got different incomes thus has different purchasing power of commodities. Their purchasing abilities and priorities will depend mainly on the price of the commodities making it difficult to conduct the research. This is because the consumer will first consider the price of a commodity before deciding whether or not to purchase the commodity before considering other factors like the design of the package. However the large sample size which was chosen should help to decrease this problem as it there will be a chance to cover all the types of consumers according to their income and social status. Another problem that might act as a setback to this research is the lack of time by the consumers to be interviewed. Based on the fact that most of these consumers live a fast lifestyle there is a high possibility that they will not have adequate time for the research. Therefore the chance of them having a negative attitude towards the interviewer is high. For those who will accept to be interviewed, there is a high chance that they will not give out accurate answers for the study hence incorrect data will be collected in the end. This is because consumers feel that they should not spend time on things which are not profitable to them. To avoid all this it is advisable to give them some sort of treat or enticement for their time. A cup of coffee, sweets or coupons can be used. The time span of carrying out the study is also limited. It is expected that the research will be conducted for five days straight including the weekend. However, this form o f studies requires one to develop the trends of people in the study area. These trends will be established by studying the flow of people during different times of the day, different days during the week, the flow of people during specific periods of the month and the year. This can only be achieved by having enough time to study these trends. However, this study does not have all that time hence the expected results will not reflect the true status of the population with regards to their response to product packaging. Budgetary constrains also act as a major limitation in the conducting of a research study. It is an expensive exercise to gather and collect data from the field. In some instances organizations fail to conduct their research accurately because of their poor financial status thus they cannot higher competent staff to conduct research for them (Tutor2u, 2011). In the end these organizations tend to rely mainly on secondary data that is cheap to get but not really accura te resulting to a research which is less than perfect in quality. The reliability of data collected in the field can in certain circumstances reduce the accuracy of the research findings. Data can be unreliable through the use of leading questions, poor methods of random sampling or biasness in selecting individuals to be interviewed. 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(2005) Distinctive Brand Cues and Memory for Product Consumption Experiences. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 22, 27-44. Zeithaml, V. A. (1988). Consumer Perceptions of Price, Quality and Value: A Means-end Model and Synthesis of Evidence. Journal of Marketing, 52, 2-22. This dissertation on The Impact of Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior was written and submitted by user Her0esF0rH1re to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.