Impact of Packaging on the Sales of your Product

As the new research unfolds in the packaging industry, new astonishing facts are being revealed. Packaging is becoming a vehicle to drive sales for products of every kind. The Brand and information that a product holds cannot be imagined without proper packaging. As businesses around the world realize the facts behind consumer behavior to raise sales, the role of product packaging is gaining more importance and wide acceptance.

Packaging scientists and other experts are unveiling the impact of packaging on the minds of consumers as they step into marketplaces and buy everyday goods. It has been found that the brands behind the packaging profoundly impact the emotions and trigger memory that creates a long-term relationship with the Brand among the buyers of a product. Packaging has been found not only as an inspiration for buying, but it has a clear-cut influence that can develop your brand image as the one your customers like and share on their social media networks.

The effect of packaging can be longer than it may seem because 

• 52% of online consumers say that it is likely for them to return to a business for repurchase if they get a product in premium packaging.
• About 90% consumers reuse the product packaging in the form of boxes and bags after purchase.
• Businesses report a 30% increase in consumer interest when they give close attention to the packaging of a product. 

Packaging and Buying Behavior

Packaging can influence the emotional mind of the consumer. The businesses around the world are increasingly becoming aware of this fact. The emotional induction through packaging can affect buying behavior, and can now be supported with scientific proof. A research article published in the Psychology and Marketing journal in October 2013 talks about fMRI scans of participants viewing packaging while their brain activity is scanned. This study shows that as the subjects saw attractive packaging, their brain activity spiked and intensified compared to when they were watching neutral packaging. The higher brain activity resulted when attractive packaging was observed by the subjects, and that pertained to the reward areas of the brain, while unattractive packaging sparked activity that was related to the negative areas of the brains of the same subjects. This is clear scientific evidence that proves that the packaging does affect the buying behavior of the consumer and drives sales. It cannot be undermined or denied in any way, as more mysteries of the brain unravel with its relationship to the marketing of packaged goods.

The influence on the Subconscious

The packaging of a product is a promise of deliverance of quality and utility that your Brand makes with your buyer on a subconscious level. The packaging as a brand also has its place in the subconscious minds of your customers, just like the way he or she has memories of other people around him or her. It has been well known that a positive memory of the Brand drives better sales. This is usually done through marketing, but the vitality of the packaging remains paramount here also.

Convenience in Shopping

The convenience of the buyer comes with packaging in a way that your customer can recognize your Brand among many other similar products and provides ease and a confusion-free buying decision.

Icons Printed on Packaging

Icons and images on packaging are instantly recognizable. Icons are typically known to make a path to the hearts and minds of consumers. It can remind them of past pleasures and pleasant experiences associated with the product. It is one of the factors that create a relationship between the customer and the Brand. This is something all businesses should look for when they pour huge sums of money and resources into brand development.

Package Aesthetics

Product aesthetics is something that lures the attention of buyers to the product. The more attractive the design of the package is, the more time the consumer will spend looking at the eye-catching display of the product. Research suggests that one-third of consumers ' buying decisions are determined by the packaging, along with personal preferences.

Typography Used on the Packaging

The typography that is used on the packaging is also a serious factor in the buying decision of the buyer. The typographers believe that fonts have personalities. They can be cool, smart, straightforward, and so on. When readability is concerned, the nicely laid out words with their color, size, and style can make the consumer spend more time looking at your product's packaging, while badly cluttered and boring text will force your potential customers to turn away.

Packaging Colors

Colors on packaging, if used in the right combination, can be highly provocative.  Colors artfully unite your brand image across different channels and lay the foundation for communication with your customers.  Colors can be very attractive and, with the right tone, can set your product apart from its competition. In the following, you will find the tones that different colors convey.

1. Bright colors lead to non-serious tones.
2. “Red” colors promote excitement
3. “White” is innocent, clean, and simple.
4. “Yellow” denotes happiness.
5. "Black" persuades power, control, heaviness, and expensiveness.
6. “Green” expresses harmony, growth, and balance, and it is associated with the eco-friendliness of a product.
7. A proper scheme of colors on the packaging leads to more buying decisions.

Influence of Packaging on Social Media Sharing

Great-looking Packaging of a product has a definitive influence on social media sharing. In the following, there is a list of studies that support this with statistical evidence.

• A study suggests that as much as 74% of young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 will share their photos with the product packaging on social media when the product is ordered online.
• Up to 40% of consumers are likely to share their photos online on social media if the packaging is interesting or gift-like. It gives a big window of opportunity to package designers and reinforces the fact that packaging does matter.
• Most of the social media users find ads annoying, but brand recommendations from friends are appreciated by them.  

A photo snap of a product with great packaging that is shared on social media has great potential to go viral online.

Product Security

Packaging is known to influence consumer behavior when it comes to securing a product. It promotes the perception of quality in the eyes of your customers. It also saves you from costly returns. On the other hand, poor and substandard packaging can negatively affect the reputation of a vendor.

Customer First

Although your customers will not consciously recognize all the ways that packaging may influence them, when you meet your consumers' needs and desires, you can drive better sales by following the suggestions below.

• The packaging should allow customers to easily find the information that the consumer is looking for when they are looking at your product. Whether it is the size of a clothing brand or the nutritional information of a food item, the information should be laid out for him or her in an easy-to-access manner.
• Some product packaging has a storage or protective function after the product has been used. Thus, making a product packaging more robust, compact, and durable, it can serve as a protective and carrying case long after the product has been purchased, contributing to your brand awareness.
• The market for eco-friendly products is growing as the concept of sustainable living is sparking the need for green packaging. This kind of packaging is recyclable or can be reused after the consumption of the product. Minimalist packaging is also in great demand, in which only the necessary number and amounts of materials are used to keep the waste low.
• In this age of competitive marketing, a single product is being sold by many vendors. The need for your product to stand out is most needed. The packaging of your product gives you this opportunity to design products and their packaging in a way that is out of the box and lets your product stand out from the crowd. It is actually what the customers want to see. Customers of your product are looking for art and creativity rather than old and boring designs.

Customer Psychology behind Packaging

It said that every grown adult has an inner child. This child can sometimes transfer its psychological traits to the customer of your product, and the packaging takes care of the rest as the sales go up. It should be important to you to know what kind of feelings and desires the packaging of your product is igniting in the minds of the customer.

An urge to buy: When a consumer sees an ad or sees the product package, he or she may get a spontaneous urge to buy.

Compulsiveness of the Packaging: A Packaging may trigger the desire to buy a product immediately.

Excitement: Packaging can ignite feelings of excitement and happiness that may lead to a buy decision.

Synchronicity: Some packaging may look instantaneously appealing when you are at the right place at the right time.

Product Appeal: You will find that every product has its unique appeal.

Hedonic factors:  These factors pertain to the product purchase decision that leads to emotions related to satisfaction and pleasure, resulting in an increase in product sales.

The packaging of products has a very high standing in selling products. There is undeniable scientific and social evidence, and packaging design is something that cannot be ignored in the developed markets as well as in the emerging markets. Packaging can influence the key decisions to sell a product that otherwise may be left behind in the competition.