by Kate Flaxx

Created on: November 18, 2010   Last Updated: November 19, 2010

There are many factors that come into play when people are searching for a product.  These things vary from person to person and may include things such as reputation of product or the brand, the price of the product and the function of the product or how the product is going to satisfy the needs of the customer.  When it comes to the packaging of a product, the winning product for most people is not the colour of the packaging or how attractive the packing is nor is it the shape of the packaging. 

When first thinking about this debate, I personally thought that packaging has nothing to do with the purchase of goods because the packaging of a product usually gets thrown away.  My first thought was people pay for goods on the price or reputation of the product, but these are not the only factors that make people sway towards a particular product.

The packaging's physical appeal has nothing to do with why someone would choose one product over the other.  Can you recall a time you ever went shopping and purposefully searched for a packet of tissues that had to be a metal box, not cardboard and on that metal box, there had to be a picture of a smiley face or the words 'hope your flu goes away soon'? The answer to that is probably no.  When it comes to the packaging, there is a significant influence that has to do with the information that is on the packaging, the written information. 

Let's say you were buying an all purpose cleaning spray and you came across one that was in a bright pink bottle.  The bottle had its brand name and other required information such as ingredients and costs around $5.00.  The brand of this all purpose spray is a reputable one and you may or may not have tried it anymore.  You went out to search for all purpose spray and you found one, but what if you had other things in mind about the product itself?  You may want an all purpose spray that is also a germ killer, you may want an all purpose spray that is environmentally friendly, you may want a larger bottle than the one you found or you may want the bottle itself to be recyclable. 

What if the all purpose spray in the bright pink bottle that you originally found had none of these specifications but then you look at a product on the next shelf and see the words 'Kills 99% germs', '25% free’, and '100% natural ingredients' and then saw this product was going to cost less than the first one you looked at?  You're probably going to end up buying the second product because it fits into the requirements you want in an all purpose spray.

The same rule usually applies to any product you're going to buy.  The information printed on the packaging will give you a clear indication as to the purpose of the product and how it’s going to fit in with your own personal needs.  In addition, the printing on packaging can also give customers other appealing information such as a free portion of product for the same cost as in the example with the all purpose spray, the words 'free' are appealing to most people so they will always give the product with these words a second glance.  The same thing applies to a cash back offer or similar.  The packaging gets people's attention and when reading further, the person buying the product can gain the necessary information to see if the product is right for them.

Packaging does influence consumer behaviour, it just depends on the individual needs of the consumer and their own factors like price or quantity or a range of the customer's personal wants. 

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