Introduction:

Packaging is the most important thing while marketing the product and it is considered as the
ultimate opportunity for marketers to communicate the brand’s message visually, positioning
the same as a better choice than any of its competitor. In the modern world, consumers are
being presented with ever increasing number of alternatives. With so much of competition,
product packaging seems to be among the best marketing tool to directly communicate and
influence customers.

It has been estimated that 60-70% of buying decisions are made in the store. The consumer
leaves home to get back with a product serving a definite purpose but no strict decision has
yet been made about the brand to go for. It could be anything. The final choice depends on a
variety of factors. Some consumers go for the routine brand; some go for extensive research
and a big chunk of them go for impulse buying. On-spot decision making about choosing
among alternatives is influenced by product perceptions (through the packaging design),
knowledge about a brand, and attitude towards brands, the consumer personality, lifestyle,
culture and other factors.
Flow of Study:

In the first few papers the importance of packaging is stated and the various aspects of the
consumer behaviour are known. Consumers decision does not necessarily depend on the
packaging so it is very important to know the other factors as well. Also, the various
packaging strategies and qualities are known in the following papers. The other papers
showcase different examples from the real world scenario of almost all kind of products we
see around us. There are also several research paper wherein the gender biasness towards a
product's packaging is shown. Lastly, few of the papers talk about how cultural differences
affect the buying decisions and how much the awareness of the consumer is needed to back
that decision.
Literature Review

2. Packaging is an effective marketing tool across consumer products. Packaging strategies

such as innovative design, special editions, and value and green packaging have a clear
promotional and segmentation purpose, while individual design elements such as colour,
shape and size can influence consumer responses and purchase and consumption behaviour.
Based upon the role of packaging for consumer goods in general, and tobacco in particular,
plain packaging would significantly reduce the promotional role of packaging. Plain
packaging neither adds to the product attributes nor it influences the person outside the retail
environment. (Allison Ford, 2011)

5.Consumers find value in the label of the products because it differentiates itself from other
products. The information on the packet not only help the companies to promote their product
in the market but also help them to establish brand image and identity. The printed detailed
information let the consumers know the product more and facilitates him in the decision
making process. Also the factors such as, the quality of the packaging material, Innovation
and practicality, and the package design seem to be the most important on product selection
during buying process. (Jusuf ZEKIRI, 2015)

6. The main elements of package which could be identified are graphic, color, size, form, and
material of packaging are considered, wrapper design, printed information, innovation while
product information, producer, country-of-origin and brand are considered as important ones.
Moreover, the impact of package elements on consumers purchase decisions should be
evaluated depending on the consumer’s involvement level, time pressure or individual
characteristics of consumers. The differences in culture also impact the decision of a
company to adopt a particular design. (Mr. Mitul M. Deliya, 2012)

12.The four basic factors are being mentioned such as colour, packaging material, design,
font style and printed information. It also states that focusing on packaging is much more
important than the advertising. Shifting focus from packaging can lead to failure of the
product. The culture and perception should be taken into consideration before the designing is
done so that people have the incentive to buy the product. (Shaista Kamal Khan, 2016)

If visual elements like product picture are placed on the left hand side of the package &
verbal elements like brand name are placed on the right hand side of boxes of products
especially ice cream & biscuits then consumers’ ability to recall would significantly high.
This implies that companies while designing their packages should keep in mind the above
findings so as to improve the consumers’ recall ability which could then stimulate the
purchase of those of products at the point of sale. (Sheth Jaydeep Hareshkumar, 2016)

20. Colour has become one of the first elements noticed by potential customers and which
can attract or avert them. The colour projects an image of a product or service but also about
the company, which creates the first impression, and if it is the wrong one the potential
customer can be lost forever. It is especially true when it comes to ecological food products
product is of great importance since it can greatly help or ruin the sales. (Boris Jurič, 2014)

17.Companies have been using packaging as a tool to increase the sales and to reduce the
promotional costs. But apart from the packaging what affects more to the consumer decision
is the price. Consumers are highly affected by the price of the product. Another indication to
the importance of packaging is that adults pay more attention on the written information
rather than the quality of the material used for packaging. They are more interested in the
content of the product rather than the appearance of the product. (Poturak, 2014)

24.

7.This paper shows that for brands which have non-durables should have a strong packaging
to communicate the intrinsic worth of the product. Findings also show that the package
designs which had high quality of pictures were liked much more than the ones which had
blurr. Product images on packages may enhance taste perceptions for these products, and
therefore be an important part of those communications Also, the less familiar private
labelsand second tier national brands may continue to suffer from inferior quality
perceptions, despite recent advances in actual quality brands. (Robert L. Underwood, 2002)

8.The packaging organisation have a lot of responsibilities towards the product. These are the
preparation of packaging specifications, package structural design, and package testing. The
packaging organization also plays a major role in the selection arid evaluation of packaging
material suppliers and in new product development. Responsibilities of the packaging
department may tend to be rather universal regardless of the type of product. (HOLLON,
1977)

4.This study shows that the trust is a mediating mechanism in evaluating product packaging
mechanisms. Given an option of trust enhancing eco-friendly product packaging, people
choose that over the traditional plastic bags. If non-traditional ways of packaging are adopted
then, the preference of the consumer might change. The transparency of packaging also
depends on the type of product. (Sucharita Chandran, 2017)

1. Retailers and brand managers think that creative packaging can increase sales across a
number of product and store categories. If attention is paid to the effects of these creative
cues on process (i.e. motivation to process) and response (i.e. brand attitude and purchase
intentions) then it might increase the chances of consumer buying the product. Significantly,
if cues are less creative then consumers might not have the curiosity to but the product.
(Jaywant Singh, 2016)

3.By taking the example of various food products, the study has suggested that the more the
product is transparent i.e. all the specifications and the contents, the more the consumer is
attracted to buy the product. It has been also noted that highly transparent small products with
an appealing packaging may attract the consumers more rather than the products having
larger transparent products with disgraceful packaging. (Barbara Sabo, 2017)

18. Through this paper a relationship between aesthetics and consumer behaviour is
established to find its impact on FMCG. At present eco and green land has been given a lot of
importance. People have got awareness about the recyclable products and the packaging
impacts their decision. So a package of new design and trend will be loved by all and it will
give the maximum profit to the organization. (S, 2014)

16. The importance of packaging design and the role of packaging as a vehicle for consumer
communication and branding are necessarily growing. To achieve communication goals
effectively, knowledge about consumer psychology is important so that manufacturers
understand consumer response to their packages. Segmentation variables based on packaging
response can provide very useful information to help marketers maximize the package's
impact. (Pinya Silayoi, 2013)
11. The consumer behaviour varies from product to product also. In the case of chocolates it
is shown that the decision of choosing the product also depends on the level of education and
the location where the person is living. Here, when we talk about people there are no gender
differences found in the study towards the product nor the level of income is affecting. The
design of packaging does not always lead the decision but it also depends on the awareness
people have about the brand. (Sultan, 2016)

13.The case of beauty products show that since women are very much considered for their
skin particularly have a higher tendency to consider the packaging before buying a product.
They check the packaging to make the decision of buying or not buying the product. Also, the
more the product is seal packed properly, the more the females tend to buy the product. Also,
the manufacturers and retailers should mention all the relevant information on the product
with a proper manufacturing and expiry date so that the consumer do not face any trouble.
(Adofo, 2014)

4.This study shows that the trust is a mediating mechanism in evaluating product packaging
mechanisms. Given an option of trust enhancing eco-friendly product packaging, people
choose that over the traditional plastic bags. If non-traditional ways of packaging are adopted
then, the preference of the consumer might change. The transparency of packaging also
depends on the type of product. (Sucharita Chandran, 2017)

9.There are a lot of factors which influence the buying decision of consumers. These factors
are further divided into internal and external factors. The internal factors include perception,
knowledge, attitudes, personality, lifestyle and motivation while the external factors include
culture. Apart from these the major factor is packaging which makes the perception of
product quality in the minds of consumers and hence, proves to be an important one among
all. (White)

14.Specific colours should be used for specific type of products and the type of class of
people. The font size of the brand should be easily visible and readable. Also, through the
study pictures on the product represent a safe-guaranteed product. Hence, each positioning
strategy is associated to some particular packaging graphical elements. (Natalia Vila, 2006)
15. Children also try to get products which have good and an attractive packaging. They have
a higher tendency to buy those products which are unhealthy but who decides the ultimate
final decision of buying the product are the parents. In the study, it is shown that parents
while taking this decision take a good care about what the child is eating and what are the
various contents in the product. However, the parents claimed that they did not succumb to
their children's requests for the purchase of unhealthy food. (Rebecca Johnson, 2009)

21. It can be concluded that women in general are well aware of the importance of packaging.
They want it to be attractive, easy to handle, differentiable form competitive products. They
would also like the packets that should be used for further use.

This study aims to advance the understanding of consumer response toward packaging
sustainability by advancing and empirically testing perceptual, inferential and attitudinal
aspects of consumer decision making that arise from packaging material and graphical
differences. New insights show that (packaging) sustainability is salient but not highly
important for determining attitudes. Consumers' sustainability perceptions of packaging are
highly diversified, possibly because they perceive different aspects of sustainability (e.g.,
recyclability vs. reusability) and vary in how they believe packaging performs on such
aspects.

23.

19. Each product has to suit to the requirements and demands of consumers on a market.
While many of the factors determining consumer behaviour cannot be influenced (religious
and cultural background, psychological factors of each consumer), they still have to be
studied in order to understand the customer profile and peculiarities of buying behaviors in
particular market. According to these behaviours products and services can be adjusted in
order to suit the major needs of customers. Without the understanding of customer behavior
and purchase patterns it is very hard to achieve high satisfaction levels of customers. (Oliver,
2016)
Works Cited
Adofo, A. O. (2014). The effect of beauty product packaging on consumer buying decision.
The Business & Management Review,.
Allison Ford, C. M. (2011, october 12). The role of packaging for consumer products:
Understanding the move towards ‘plain’ tobacco packaging.
Barbara Sabo, T. B. (2017, 06 26). The impact of packaging transparency on product
attractiveness.
Boris Jurič, D. V. (2014). THE INFLUENCE OF COLOURS ON THE PURCHASE DECISION MAKING
PROCESS WHEN DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTS.
Ehsan, M. (2015, november). Brand Packaging and Consumer Buying Behavior: A Case of
FMCG Products. International Journal of Scientific and Research Publications,.
HOLLON, M. A. (1977). Responsibilities of the Packaging Organization. Transportation
Journal,, 30-35.
Jaywant Singh, P. S. (2016). Crestive in store packaging cues:Are consumers noticing?
Jusuf ZEKIRI, J. Z. (2015). THE ROLE AND IMPACT OF THE PACKAGING EFFECT ON
CONSUMER BUYING.
Mr. Mitul M. Deliya, M. B. (2012, june). Role of Packaging on Consumer Buying Behavior–
Patan. Global Journal of Management and Business Research.
Natalia Vila, O. A. (2006). Consumer perceptions of product packaging. Journal of Consumer
Marketing, 100-112.
Oliver, R. L. (2016, october 4). STUDY ON CONSUMER BUYING BEHAVIOR AND
SATISFACTION LEVEL.
Pinya Silayoi, M. S. (2013). The importance of packaging attributes: a conjoint analysis
approach.
Poturak, M. (2014). Influence of Product Packaging on Purchase Decisions.
Rebecca Johnson. (2009, november). How packaging affects the product preferences of
children and the buyer behaviour of their parents in the food industry.
Robert L. Underwood, N. M. (2002). PACKAGING AS BRAND COMMUNICATION:EFFECTS OF
PRODUCT PICTURES ON CONSUMER RESPONSES TO THE PACKAGE AND THE BRAND.
Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice,, 58-68.
S, A. (2014). Exploring the Aesthetics of Product on Consumer Buying Behavior in FMCGS.
Shaista Kamal Khan, F. R. (2016). Impact of Labeling and Packaging on Consumer Buying
Behavior. Journal of Marketing and Consumer Research.
Sheth Jaydeep Hareshkumar, D. S. (2016, january). A STUDY OF THE ATTENTIONAL EFFECTS
OF PACKAGING CUES vOF READY TO EAT FOOD PRODUCTS ON THE BUYING
BEHAVIOR OF CONSUMERS OF SELECTED CITIES OF GUJARAT.
Sucharita Chandran, R. K. (2017). Is Seeing Believing? Consumer Responses to Opacity of
Product Packaging. USA.
Sultan, M. F. (2016, april). Effect of Packaging Elements on Consumer Buying Behavior:
Comparative Study of Cadbury Dairy Milk and Cadbury Perk.
White, S. (n.d.). INFLUENCE OF PACKAGING ON Consumer Buying Behaviour.