Packaging and purchasedecisions

An exploratory study on the impact ofinvolvement level and time pressure

Pinya SilayoiDepartment of Packaging Technology Faculty of Agro-Industry

Kasetsart University Bangkok Thailand

Mark SpeeceSchool of Management Asian Institute of Technology and Graduate School

Bangkok University Bangkok Thailand

Keywords Food packaging Design Consumer behaviour

Abstract The importance of packaging design as a vehicle for communication and branding isgrowing in competitive markets for packaged food products This research utilized a focus groupmethodology to understand consumer behavior toward such products and how packaging elementscan affect buying decisions Visual package elements play a major role representing the product formany consumers especially in low involvement and when they are rushed Most focus groupparticipants say they use label information but they would like it if simplified The challenge forresearchers is to integrate packaging into an effective purchasing decision model by understandingpackaging elements as important marketing communications tools Propositions for future researchare proposed which will help in developing better understanding of consumer response to packagingelements

Introduction packaging at the point of salePackaging seems to be one of the most important factors in purchase decisions made atthe point of sale (Prendergast and Pitt 1996) where it becomes an essential part of theselling process (Rettie and Brewer 2000) Packaged food products are moving into everlarger supermarkets and hypermarkets and there is a proliferation of productsoffering consumers vast choice The competitive context is ever more intense both inthe retail store and household With the move to self-service retail formats packagingincreases its key characteristic as the ldquosalesman on the shelfrdquo at the point of sale Thecritical importance of packaging design is growing in such competitive marketconditions as package becomes a primary vehicle for communication and branding(Rettie and Brewer 2000)

This discussion examines how packaging influences buying decisions for packagedfood products The package standing out on the shelf affects the consumer decisionprocess and package design must insure that consumer response is favorable Theproblem is made more complex by several conflicting trends in consumerdecision-making On one hand some consumers are paying more attention to labelinformation as they become more concerned about health and nutrition (Coulson 2000IGD 2003c) These consumers are more involved in the product decision and usepackage information more extensively On the other hand modern consumers are oftenlooking for ways to reduce time spent on food shopping and preparation This can

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British Food JournalVol 106 No 8 2004

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0007-070XDOI 10110800070700410553602

influence decision processes too as time pressure reduces detailed consideration ofpackage elements (IGD 2002b Warde 1999)

While these are important issues and becoming even more critical in theintensifying competitive environment there is little comprehensive study on howpackaging elements influence brand choice under involvement and time pressure Thispaper aims at forming a better understanding of the link between packaging andconsumer purchase behavior The main objective is to examine packaging elementsthat influence purchase decisions From this we propose a conceptual framework forhow packaging relates to purchase decisions in the context of different productinvolvement levels and under time pressure

Generally qualitative methods are best suited to developing deeper understandingso our discussion is based on focus groups interviews which examined these issuesin-depth with typical consumers The focus groups sessions had two broad objectivesThey are

(1) to examine the consumer experience with purchasing packaged food productsand

(2) to understand consumer views on how packaging plays a role in their purchasedecisions

The focus groups were conducted in Bangkok Thailand and thus the views representconsumers in an important middle-income country market where the agribusinessindustry is quite strong and conditions are very competitive

The packaged food products market in ThailandThailand provides an excellent context for examining packaging of processed foodproducts Understanding consumer response to packaging in Asia is critical to foodcompanies competing globally and Thailand is one of the leading markets for suchtrends The packaged food industry in Thailand is highly competitive and the Thaiindustry is a major player in the world market Thailand is the worldrsquos fifth largestfood exporter with more than half of its exports going to its three major markets inJapan North America and Europe (The Nation 2003) Packaged food productsconstitute to a large part of exports and thus domestic markets in the West are seeingan increasing presence of Thai packaged food

In Thailand the rapid growth of modern retailing where packaging plays a criticalrole in merchandising and communication is an important driver of the dynamiccompetitive environment for fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) (The Nation 2002)Expansion of modern retailing is common across Asia even in very low incomecountries (Speece and Luc 2002) but is more advanced in Thailand than in most partsof developing Asia According to AC Nielson Thailand is the most dynamic retailmarket in the Asian region except for China (Rungfapaisarn 2002) Internationalizationis a key ingredient For example Britain is now the fifth largest investor in Thailandand major British FMCG companies and retailers have a strong presence (UK Tradeand Investment 2003) A report by IGD (2003a) indicates that after China Thailand isone of just three other key Asian markets for international retailers

As many Asian markets Thailand has seen an influx of foreign retailers The wholerange of modern retail stores common in the West are also becoming common inThailand Hypermarkets now lead growth with foreign stores playing a major role in

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this category Tesco has become the largest single player but there are also three othermajor chains including the European Carrefour and Makro and Big C which isdomestic (Phuangkanok 2001 Rungfapaisarn 2002 2001) Supermarkets andconvenience stores the other major outlets for packaged food products show asimilar mix of Western and domestic chains

These trends have fostered quite a lot of product and packaging innovation InThailand ready-to-eat and other convenience food products are among the mostrapidly growing categories (The Nation 2002) Packaging has become a criticalmarketing issue in the competitive domestic market and as Thai products expandtheir international presence Industry experts believe that product innovation andpackaging are the keys to enhance competitiveness of Thai packaged foodproducts (The Nation 2003) The director of the Bureau of Entrepreneur andEnterprise Development which works with Thai SMEs believes that packaging isone of the three critical areas where SMEs need to develop more expertise alongwith marketing and high quality raw materials (Asawanipont 2003)

A key to maximizing package impact is understanding consumer response topackaging Many observers eg AC Nielsen a leading international consumer researchcompany believe that consumers worldwide are likely to have roughly a similarresponse to many FMCG despite cultural differences (The Nation 2002)Understanding issues that concern consumers in one highly competitive marketshould provide a useful guide for others even if details of execution might have todiffer across countries Our own work has found many elements of behavior towardFMCG brands to be similar among middle class consumers across a number of Asianmarkets (Speece 1998 2002 2003) In many respects their behavior does not seem verydifferent from how Europeans may view brands (Speece 2000)

For example while there is a considerable brand loyalty toward FMCG in Asiamany consumers are loyal to a small set of brands rather than to a single one Roughlyhalf the consumers have frequently not made specific brand choices before they enterthe store as several brands are all acceptable to them (Speece 1998 2003) The packagetruly is critical for these shoppers and it must communicate the advantages of the foodproduct inside Consumers in Thailand are becoming more careful shoppers payingmore attention to information about packaged food products (NFI 2003 Speece 2003)This trend of course is worldwide In the UK for example IGD (2003c) found that 61percent of people surveyed now look for product information on food labels up fromonly 13 percent in 2000

Convenience is also a key driver for food choice worldwide and recent trendssuggest that the demand for convenience is likely to continue increasing as youngconsumers take their habits with them into old age (IGD 2002a) According to IGD(2002a) more impulsive and impatient consumers have driven the move toward moreinformal dining and a decline in the traditional fixed meal times The trend is so strongin middle class Thailand that even some popular restaurant chains have found itadvantageous to move into packaged food distributed through modern retail stores astheir customers do not always have time for a restaurant meal ( Jitpleecheep 2003)

Literature review packaging functions and elementsPrendergast and Pitt (1996) review the basic functions of packaging and define themby their role in either logistics or marketing The logistical function of packaging is

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mainly to protect the product during movement through distribution channels In themarketing function packaging provides an attractive method to convey messagesabout product attributes to consumers at the point of sale It may be difficult toseparate these two package functions as they are usually needed The package sellsthe product by attracting attention and communicating and also allows the product tobe contained apportioned unitized and protected

Whatever be the logistics considerations packaging is one key food productattribute perceived by consumers It cannot escape performing the marketing functioneven if a company does not explicitly recognize the marketing aspects of packagingThe package is a critical factor in the decision-making process because itcommunicates to consumers Intention to purchase depends on the degree to whichconsumers expect the product to satisfy them when they consume it (Kupiec andRevell 2001) How they perceive it depends on communication elements which becomethe key to success for many marketing strategies

The packagersquos overall features can underline the uniqueness and originality of theproduct In addition quality judgments are largely influenced by productcharacteristics reflected by packaging If it communicates high quality consumersassume that the product is of high quality If the package symbolizes low qualityconsumers transfer this low quality perception to the product itself The packagecommunicates favorable or unfavorable implied meaning about the productUnderwood et al (2001) suggest that consumers are more likely to spontaneouslyimagine aspects of how a product looks tastes feels smells or sounds while they areviewing a product picture on the package

Consumer decision-making can be defined as a mental orientation characterizing aconsumerrsquos approach to making choice (Lysonski et al 1996) This approach dealswith cognitive and affective orientations in the process of decision-making Four mainpackaging elements potentially affect consumer purchase decisions which can beseparated into two categories visual and informational elements The visual elementsconsist of graphics and sizeshape of packaging and relate more to the affective side ofdecision-making Informational elements relate to information provided andtechnologies used in the package and are more likely to address the cognitive sideof decisions

Most FMCG are low involvement products In low involvement ldquoconsumers do notsearch extensively for information about the brands evaluate their characteristics andmake a weighty decision on which brand to buyrdquo (Kotler et al 1996 p 225) One reasonfor this is low risk (Chaudhuri 2000 Mitchell 1999) ie these products are simply notvery important The lack of substantial evaluation often results in the inability todistinguish much difference among leading brands (McWilliam 1997) A commonresult is relatively weak ldquohabitrdquo brand loyalty Thus when consumers find a brandwhich meets their standards they tend to stay ldquosatisfiedrdquo with it especially if they areconstantly reminded of the brand But they are not very committed and substituteeasily when it is not available

Such habit loyalty is fairly common in the West eg IGD (2002a) notes that aboutone-third of women shoppers and slightly fewer men buy food products through habitIt is also quite common in Thailand and more broadly in Asia (Speece 1998 2003)Survey data from Thailand indicate that packaging plays a strong role in remindingconsumers about the brand (Silayoi et al 2003) ie it helps to reinforce habit loyalty

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Some observers though note that not all consumers view grocery shopping as alow involvement activity Beharrell and Denison (1995) show a range of involvementamong European consumers Those with higher involvement tend to be more stronglybrand loyal including willingness to postpone purchase or go to another store if thebrand is not available In Thailand about 20-40 percent of consumers for most FMCGshow this level of loyalty and will postpone or search rather than simply switch to asubstitute (Speece 1998 2003)

Clearly consumer use of packaging elements is quite an important issue for lowinvolvement products ndash generally informational elements require more mental effortto process than do visual elements which evoke more of an emotional response Someconsumers are not willing to put forth this small effort and food products which is oftruly low involvement for them Others may consider the product more carefully sothat involvement level might shift the package elements which are most critical Welook at these various elements in more detail in the remainder of this section toexamine how consumers are likely to use each one

Visual elementsGraphics and colorGraphics includes layout color combinations typography and product photographyall of which create an image For low involvement there is a strong impact frommarketing communications including image building on consumer decision-makingEvaluation of attributes is of less importance in low involvement decisions sographics and color become critical (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) For manyconsumers in low involvement the package is the product particularly becauseimpressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact As the productattribute which most directly communicates to the target consumer (Nancarrow et al1998) the design characteristics of the package need to stand out in a display of manyother offerings

Many consumers today shop under higher levels of perceived time pressure andtend to purchase fewer products than intended (Herrington and Capella 1995)Products often appear to be chosen without prior planning representing a form ofimpulse buying (Hausman 2000) A package that attracts consumers at the point ofsale will help them make decisions quickly in-store As the customerrsquos eye tracksacross a display of packages different new packages can be noticed against thecompetitors However eye movement does not necessarily mean attention Whenscanning packages in the supermarket the differential perception and the positioningof the graphics elements on a package may make the difference between identifyingand missing an item (Herrington and Capella 1995)

In psychology research brain laterality results in an asymmetry in the perception ofelements in package designs (Rettie and Brewer 2000) The recall of package elementsis likely to be influenced by their lateral position on the package as well as by factorssuch as font style size and color Recall is better for verbal stimuli when the copy is onthe right hand side of the package and better for non-verbal stimuli when it is on theleft hand side This may imply that in order to maximize consumer recall pictorialelements such as product photography should be positioned on the left hand side ofthe package

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

611

Consumers also learn color associations which lead them to prefer certain colors forvarious product categories (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) Using color as a cue onpackaging can be a potentially strong association especially when it is unique to aparticular brand However people in different cultures are exposed to different colorassociations and develop color preferences based on their own culturersquos associationsSimply taking the colors of a particular logo package or product design from onemarket to another should only be done under a thorough understanding of how colorsand color combinations are perceived in each location (Madden et al 2000)

Packaging size and shapePackage size shape and elongation also affects consumer judgment and decisions butnot always in easily uncovered ways Consumers appear to use these things assimplifying visual heuristics to make volume judgments Generally they perceive moreelongated packages to be larger even when they frequently purchase these packagesand can experience true volume This implies that disconfirmation of package size afterconsumption may not lead consumers to revise their volume judgments in the longterm especially if the discrepancy is not very large (Raghubir and Krishna 1999)

Different sizes also appeal to consumers with somewhat different involvement Forexample low price for some low involvement products such as generics is madepossible through cost savings created by reduced packaging and promotionalexpenses Generics are usually packaged in larger sizes which communicates toconsumers who are specifically looking for good deals Such consumers find the lowprice of the generics in the right size of packaging offers excellent value for money(Prendergast and Marr 1997) In addition this could imply that when product qualityis hard to determine as with generics the packaging size effect is stronger

Informational elementsProduct informationThe behavior of consumers toward products characterized by high involvement is lessinfluenced by image issues and visual response (Kupiec and Revell 2001) in such casesconsumers need more information Written information on the package can assistconsumers in making their decisions carefully as they consider product characteristicsHowever packaging information can create confusion by conveying either too muchinformation or misleading and inaccurate information Manufacturers often use verysmall fonts and very dense writing styles to pack extensive information onto the labelwhich lead to poor readability and sometimes confusion

Mitchell and Papavassiliou (1999) suggest that one way consumers reduceconfusion from information overload is to narrow down their choice sets Reducingchoice alternatives and evaluative attributes decreases the probability that they will beconfused by excessive choice and information overload This strategy could apply tomore experienced consumers because heavy users potentially look at fewer brandalternatives In other words experience makes consumers selectively perceptive andrestricts the scope of their search (Hausman 2000) This is effectively a form of brandloyalty brought about because consumers do not necessarily want to continue readinglabels every time they buy a particular product

Many consumers appreciate food labeling but are not satisfied with standardformats For example UK survey data indicates that nearly two-thirds of consumers

BFJ1068

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now read food labels but one-third want to see clearer labeling (IGD 2003c) Otherresearch in the UK also shows that many consumers find the format prescribed in lawfor both voluntary and compulsory labeling difficult to use (FSA 2003) In anotherrecent survey 90 percent of people agreed that nutritional information panels shouldbe laid out in the same way for all food products so that they are easy to understandquickly (Mitchell and Papavassiliou 1999)

While not all consumers use it the trend seems to be toward increasing attention tosuch label information Partly concerns about food safety and nutritional health drivethis trend (Coulson 2000 IGD 2003d Smith and Riethmuller 2000) but it is alsodriven by the gradually increasing consumer sophistication During Thailandrsquos recentrecession for example consumers were loathed to sacrifice living standards but theydid have to watch budgets more carefully They began evaluating products morecarefully to make sure they were worth the prices charged (Speece 2003) Whatever bethe reasons more highly involved consumers evaluate message information relying onmessage argument quality to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Vakratsasand Ambler 1999)

On the other hand packaged food products remain low in involvement for manyconsumers In general consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often donewithout carefully examining brand and product information The lack of commitmentand attention implies that information on the package carries relatively less value withconsumers who view packaged food as low involvement products

Packaging technologyTechnology developed for packaging comes directly from the current trends inproducts and consumer behaviors Powerful retailers also seek greater responsivenessand flexibility from manufacturers including packaging to satisfy consumers who aremore demanding and sophisticated (Adebanjo 2000) Customers are often prepared topay slightly more for enhanced product value indicating desire for more qualityHowever product and packaging development also constrained in creating productsthat fully meet the consumer and channel criteria Such constraints might becategorized as ingredient processing and cost restraints

Innovation must respond and develop new products that are more efficientlyproduced packaged for a longer shelf life environmentally friendly nutritionallyresponsive to each of the emerging segments of society and meet maximum foodsafety requirements (McIlveen 1994) Technology embodied in the package plays a bigrole in this making it somewhat of a special form of informational element In additionto its technical role packaging technology also conveys information which is oftenlinked to the consumerrsquos lifestyle Therefore in order to survive in high growthcompetitive markets technology becomes very important for developing packagingmaterials and processes

It is clear from the review of literature that the importance of packagingdevelopment is high as packaging plays a major role in consumer decisions of fastmoving packaged food products Earlier research however is not very extensive andhas not looked very carefully at differences in how packaging elements are used fordecisions based on levels of involvement and time pressure In the next section wediscuss focus group research to examine these issues among middle class consumers inBangkok

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

613

MethodologyFocus groups were used for this study in order to gain in-depth insights into consumershopping behaviors for packaged food products Qualitative approaches provide richerdetail for exploring viewpoints in early stages of research allowing the researcher togain a better initial understanding of issues (Healy and Perry 2000) Focus groupinterviews are particularly a good process for generating hypotheses and interpretingconsumer thinking Focus group methodologies do not aim for precise measurementbut rather at gaining in-depth knowledge about certain topic areas A focus group isespecially useful for learning about participantsrsquo conceptualizations of particularphenomena and the language they use to describe them (Blackburn and Stokes 2000Jinks and Daniels 1999)

Two focus groups of six housewives and six working women were conducted inBangkok Focus groups may not be fully representative of target populations but itwas important to ensure that the results could illustrate possible variations within thecity and provide some level of generalisability Invited participants were stratifiedaccording to household income marital status number of children and familymembers and age One group concentrated on 35-42 year old housewives with 2-3children and one on 27-36 year old married working women without children For bothgroups household income of a minimum of 40000 Bahtmonth and a maximum of80000 Baht were adopted (slightly less than US$ 1000-2000month) to represent solidmiddle class income levels

The study aimed to get the participants who are responsible for householdshopping In most countries women are still mainly responsible for householdshopping and remain the main decision makers for frequently purchased packagedfood products Thailand fits this pattern and screening questions indicated thatparticipants made the purchase decisions for packaged food products

The discussions were guided by a moderator (one of the authors) whose role was todevelop the exploration of the topics This researcher was previously unknown to anyparticipant so that the groups had no pre-conceived ideas about the research andresearcher influence on responses would be minimal In the interviews it is importantto get people to feel comfortable with expressing honest and open answers (Cowley2000) The interviewees were promised that individual identities would not be revealedin any way while reporting the data The interviews were recorded and the researchertook notes of all the interactions The sessions were guided by a list of topics whichacted as the framework for discussion

FindingsBoth sets of participants identified packaging elements as the main factors in theirassessment and decisions on household purchases The packaging elements identifiedmost often were graphics and color shape and size and product information Thesedimensions were seen as important by most participants In the following discussionwe examine these elements and the impact of involvement level and time pressure inmore detail

Impact of involvement levelParticipants defined involvement level based on perceptions of product importance Intheir purchase strategies the most familiar product would potentially be bought by

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many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

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involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

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expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

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their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

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622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

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positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

this category Tesco has become the largest single player but there are also three othermajor chains including the European Carrefour and Makro and Big C which isdomestic (Phuangkanok 2001 Rungfapaisarn 2002 2001) Supermarkets andconvenience stores the other major outlets for packaged food products show asimilar mix of Western and domestic chains

These trends have fostered quite a lot of product and packaging innovation InThailand ready-to-eat and other convenience food products are among the mostrapidly growing categories (The Nation 2002) Packaging has become a criticalmarketing issue in the competitive domestic market and as Thai products expandtheir international presence Industry experts believe that product innovation andpackaging are the keys to enhance competitiveness of Thai packaged foodproducts (The Nation 2003) The director of the Bureau of Entrepreneur andEnterprise Development which works with Thai SMEs believes that packaging isone of the three critical areas where SMEs need to develop more expertise alongwith marketing and high quality raw materials (Asawanipont 2003)

A key to maximizing package impact is understanding consumer response topackaging Many observers eg AC Nielsen a leading international consumer researchcompany believe that consumers worldwide are likely to have roughly a similarresponse to many FMCG despite cultural differences (The Nation 2002)Understanding issues that concern consumers in one highly competitive marketshould provide a useful guide for others even if details of execution might have todiffer across countries Our own work has found many elements of behavior towardFMCG brands to be similar among middle class consumers across a number of Asianmarkets (Speece 1998 2002 2003) In many respects their behavior does not seem verydifferent from how Europeans may view brands (Speece 2000)

For example while there is a considerable brand loyalty toward FMCG in Asiamany consumers are loyal to a small set of brands rather than to a single one Roughlyhalf the consumers have frequently not made specific brand choices before they enterthe store as several brands are all acceptable to them (Speece 1998 2003) The packagetruly is critical for these shoppers and it must communicate the advantages of the foodproduct inside Consumers in Thailand are becoming more careful shoppers payingmore attention to information about packaged food products (NFI 2003 Speece 2003)This trend of course is worldwide In the UK for example IGD (2003c) found that 61percent of people surveyed now look for product information on food labels up fromonly 13 percent in 2000

Convenience is also a key driver for food choice worldwide and recent trendssuggest that the demand for convenience is likely to continue increasing as youngconsumers take their habits with them into old age (IGD 2002a) According to IGD(2002a) more impulsive and impatient consumers have driven the move toward moreinformal dining and a decline in the traditional fixed meal times The trend is so strongin middle class Thailand that even some popular restaurant chains have found itadvantageous to move into packaged food distributed through modern retail stores astheir customers do not always have time for a restaurant meal ( Jitpleecheep 2003)

Literature review packaging functions and elementsPrendergast and Pitt (1996) review the basic functions of packaging and define themby their role in either logistics or marketing The logistical function of packaging is

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

609

mainly to protect the product during movement through distribution channels In themarketing function packaging provides an attractive method to convey messagesabout product attributes to consumers at the point of sale It may be difficult toseparate these two package functions as they are usually needed The package sellsthe product by attracting attention and communicating and also allows the product tobe contained apportioned unitized and protected

Whatever be the logistics considerations packaging is one key food productattribute perceived by consumers It cannot escape performing the marketing functioneven if a company does not explicitly recognize the marketing aspects of packagingThe package is a critical factor in the decision-making process because itcommunicates to consumers Intention to purchase depends on the degree to whichconsumers expect the product to satisfy them when they consume it (Kupiec andRevell 2001) How they perceive it depends on communication elements which becomethe key to success for many marketing strategies

The packagersquos overall features can underline the uniqueness and originality of theproduct In addition quality judgments are largely influenced by productcharacteristics reflected by packaging If it communicates high quality consumersassume that the product is of high quality If the package symbolizes low qualityconsumers transfer this low quality perception to the product itself The packagecommunicates favorable or unfavorable implied meaning about the productUnderwood et al (2001) suggest that consumers are more likely to spontaneouslyimagine aspects of how a product looks tastes feels smells or sounds while they areviewing a product picture on the package

Consumer decision-making can be defined as a mental orientation characterizing aconsumerrsquos approach to making choice (Lysonski et al 1996) This approach dealswith cognitive and affective orientations in the process of decision-making Four mainpackaging elements potentially affect consumer purchase decisions which can beseparated into two categories visual and informational elements The visual elementsconsist of graphics and sizeshape of packaging and relate more to the affective side ofdecision-making Informational elements relate to information provided andtechnologies used in the package and are more likely to address the cognitive sideof decisions

Most FMCG are low involvement products In low involvement ldquoconsumers do notsearch extensively for information about the brands evaluate their characteristics andmake a weighty decision on which brand to buyrdquo (Kotler et al 1996 p 225) One reasonfor this is low risk (Chaudhuri 2000 Mitchell 1999) ie these products are simply notvery important The lack of substantial evaluation often results in the inability todistinguish much difference among leading brands (McWilliam 1997) A commonresult is relatively weak ldquohabitrdquo brand loyalty Thus when consumers find a brandwhich meets their standards they tend to stay ldquosatisfiedrdquo with it especially if they areconstantly reminded of the brand But they are not very committed and substituteeasily when it is not available

Such habit loyalty is fairly common in the West eg IGD (2002a) notes that aboutone-third of women shoppers and slightly fewer men buy food products through habitIt is also quite common in Thailand and more broadly in Asia (Speece 1998 2003)Survey data from Thailand indicate that packaging plays a strong role in remindingconsumers about the brand (Silayoi et al 2003) ie it helps to reinforce habit loyalty

BFJ1068

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Some observers though note that not all consumers view grocery shopping as alow involvement activity Beharrell and Denison (1995) show a range of involvementamong European consumers Those with higher involvement tend to be more stronglybrand loyal including willingness to postpone purchase or go to another store if thebrand is not available In Thailand about 20-40 percent of consumers for most FMCGshow this level of loyalty and will postpone or search rather than simply switch to asubstitute (Speece 1998 2003)

Clearly consumer use of packaging elements is quite an important issue for lowinvolvement products ndash generally informational elements require more mental effortto process than do visual elements which evoke more of an emotional response Someconsumers are not willing to put forth this small effort and food products which is oftruly low involvement for them Others may consider the product more carefully sothat involvement level might shift the package elements which are most critical Welook at these various elements in more detail in the remainder of this section toexamine how consumers are likely to use each one

Visual elementsGraphics and colorGraphics includes layout color combinations typography and product photographyall of which create an image For low involvement there is a strong impact frommarketing communications including image building on consumer decision-makingEvaluation of attributes is of less importance in low involvement decisions sographics and color become critical (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) For manyconsumers in low involvement the package is the product particularly becauseimpressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact As the productattribute which most directly communicates to the target consumer (Nancarrow et al1998) the design characteristics of the package need to stand out in a display of manyother offerings

Many consumers today shop under higher levels of perceived time pressure andtend to purchase fewer products than intended (Herrington and Capella 1995)Products often appear to be chosen without prior planning representing a form ofimpulse buying (Hausman 2000) A package that attracts consumers at the point ofsale will help them make decisions quickly in-store As the customerrsquos eye tracksacross a display of packages different new packages can be noticed against thecompetitors However eye movement does not necessarily mean attention Whenscanning packages in the supermarket the differential perception and the positioningof the graphics elements on a package may make the difference between identifyingand missing an item (Herrington and Capella 1995)

In psychology research brain laterality results in an asymmetry in the perception ofelements in package designs (Rettie and Brewer 2000) The recall of package elementsis likely to be influenced by their lateral position on the package as well as by factorssuch as font style size and color Recall is better for verbal stimuli when the copy is onthe right hand side of the package and better for non-verbal stimuli when it is on theleft hand side This may imply that in order to maximize consumer recall pictorialelements such as product photography should be positioned on the left hand side ofthe package

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

611

Consumers also learn color associations which lead them to prefer certain colors forvarious product categories (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) Using color as a cue onpackaging can be a potentially strong association especially when it is unique to aparticular brand However people in different cultures are exposed to different colorassociations and develop color preferences based on their own culturersquos associationsSimply taking the colors of a particular logo package or product design from onemarket to another should only be done under a thorough understanding of how colorsand color combinations are perceived in each location (Madden et al 2000)

Packaging size and shapePackage size shape and elongation also affects consumer judgment and decisions butnot always in easily uncovered ways Consumers appear to use these things assimplifying visual heuristics to make volume judgments Generally they perceive moreelongated packages to be larger even when they frequently purchase these packagesand can experience true volume This implies that disconfirmation of package size afterconsumption may not lead consumers to revise their volume judgments in the longterm especially if the discrepancy is not very large (Raghubir and Krishna 1999)

Different sizes also appeal to consumers with somewhat different involvement Forexample low price for some low involvement products such as generics is madepossible through cost savings created by reduced packaging and promotionalexpenses Generics are usually packaged in larger sizes which communicates toconsumers who are specifically looking for good deals Such consumers find the lowprice of the generics in the right size of packaging offers excellent value for money(Prendergast and Marr 1997) In addition this could imply that when product qualityis hard to determine as with generics the packaging size effect is stronger

Informational elementsProduct informationThe behavior of consumers toward products characterized by high involvement is lessinfluenced by image issues and visual response (Kupiec and Revell 2001) in such casesconsumers need more information Written information on the package can assistconsumers in making their decisions carefully as they consider product characteristicsHowever packaging information can create confusion by conveying either too muchinformation or misleading and inaccurate information Manufacturers often use verysmall fonts and very dense writing styles to pack extensive information onto the labelwhich lead to poor readability and sometimes confusion

Mitchell and Papavassiliou (1999) suggest that one way consumers reduceconfusion from information overload is to narrow down their choice sets Reducingchoice alternatives and evaluative attributes decreases the probability that they will beconfused by excessive choice and information overload This strategy could apply tomore experienced consumers because heavy users potentially look at fewer brandalternatives In other words experience makes consumers selectively perceptive andrestricts the scope of their search (Hausman 2000) This is effectively a form of brandloyalty brought about because consumers do not necessarily want to continue readinglabels every time they buy a particular product

Many consumers appreciate food labeling but are not satisfied with standardformats For example UK survey data indicates that nearly two-thirds of consumers

BFJ1068

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now read food labels but one-third want to see clearer labeling (IGD 2003c) Otherresearch in the UK also shows that many consumers find the format prescribed in lawfor both voluntary and compulsory labeling difficult to use (FSA 2003) In anotherrecent survey 90 percent of people agreed that nutritional information panels shouldbe laid out in the same way for all food products so that they are easy to understandquickly (Mitchell and Papavassiliou 1999)

While not all consumers use it the trend seems to be toward increasing attention tosuch label information Partly concerns about food safety and nutritional health drivethis trend (Coulson 2000 IGD 2003d Smith and Riethmuller 2000) but it is alsodriven by the gradually increasing consumer sophistication During Thailandrsquos recentrecession for example consumers were loathed to sacrifice living standards but theydid have to watch budgets more carefully They began evaluating products morecarefully to make sure they were worth the prices charged (Speece 2003) Whatever bethe reasons more highly involved consumers evaluate message information relying onmessage argument quality to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Vakratsasand Ambler 1999)

On the other hand packaged food products remain low in involvement for manyconsumers In general consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often donewithout carefully examining brand and product information The lack of commitmentand attention implies that information on the package carries relatively less value withconsumers who view packaged food as low involvement products

Packaging technologyTechnology developed for packaging comes directly from the current trends inproducts and consumer behaviors Powerful retailers also seek greater responsivenessand flexibility from manufacturers including packaging to satisfy consumers who aremore demanding and sophisticated (Adebanjo 2000) Customers are often prepared topay slightly more for enhanced product value indicating desire for more qualityHowever product and packaging development also constrained in creating productsthat fully meet the consumer and channel criteria Such constraints might becategorized as ingredient processing and cost restraints

Innovation must respond and develop new products that are more efficientlyproduced packaged for a longer shelf life environmentally friendly nutritionallyresponsive to each of the emerging segments of society and meet maximum foodsafety requirements (McIlveen 1994) Technology embodied in the package plays a bigrole in this making it somewhat of a special form of informational element In additionto its technical role packaging technology also conveys information which is oftenlinked to the consumerrsquos lifestyle Therefore in order to survive in high growthcompetitive markets technology becomes very important for developing packagingmaterials and processes

It is clear from the review of literature that the importance of packagingdevelopment is high as packaging plays a major role in consumer decisions of fastmoving packaged food products Earlier research however is not very extensive andhas not looked very carefully at differences in how packaging elements are used fordecisions based on levels of involvement and time pressure In the next section wediscuss focus group research to examine these issues among middle class consumers inBangkok

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

613

MethodologyFocus groups were used for this study in order to gain in-depth insights into consumershopping behaviors for packaged food products Qualitative approaches provide richerdetail for exploring viewpoints in early stages of research allowing the researcher togain a better initial understanding of issues (Healy and Perry 2000) Focus groupinterviews are particularly a good process for generating hypotheses and interpretingconsumer thinking Focus group methodologies do not aim for precise measurementbut rather at gaining in-depth knowledge about certain topic areas A focus group isespecially useful for learning about participantsrsquo conceptualizations of particularphenomena and the language they use to describe them (Blackburn and Stokes 2000Jinks and Daniels 1999)

Two focus groups of six housewives and six working women were conducted inBangkok Focus groups may not be fully representative of target populations but itwas important to ensure that the results could illustrate possible variations within thecity and provide some level of generalisability Invited participants were stratifiedaccording to household income marital status number of children and familymembers and age One group concentrated on 35-42 year old housewives with 2-3children and one on 27-36 year old married working women without children For bothgroups household income of a minimum of 40000 Bahtmonth and a maximum of80000 Baht were adopted (slightly less than US$ 1000-2000month) to represent solidmiddle class income levels

The study aimed to get the participants who are responsible for householdshopping In most countries women are still mainly responsible for householdshopping and remain the main decision makers for frequently purchased packagedfood products Thailand fits this pattern and screening questions indicated thatparticipants made the purchase decisions for packaged food products

The discussions were guided by a moderator (one of the authors) whose role was todevelop the exploration of the topics This researcher was previously unknown to anyparticipant so that the groups had no pre-conceived ideas about the research andresearcher influence on responses would be minimal In the interviews it is importantto get people to feel comfortable with expressing honest and open answers (Cowley2000) The interviewees were promised that individual identities would not be revealedin any way while reporting the data The interviews were recorded and the researchertook notes of all the interactions The sessions were guided by a list of topics whichacted as the framework for discussion

FindingsBoth sets of participants identified packaging elements as the main factors in theirassessment and decisions on household purchases The packaging elements identifiedmost often were graphics and color shape and size and product information Thesedimensions were seen as important by most participants In the following discussionwe examine these elements and the impact of involvement level and time pressure inmore detail

Impact of involvement levelParticipants defined involvement level based on perceptions of product importance Intheir purchase strategies the most familiar product would potentially be bought by

BFJ1068

614

many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

BFJ1068

616

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

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expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

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their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

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622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

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positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

mainly to protect the product during movement through distribution channels In themarketing function packaging provides an attractive method to convey messagesabout product attributes to consumers at the point of sale It may be difficult toseparate these two package functions as they are usually needed The package sellsthe product by attracting attention and communicating and also allows the product tobe contained apportioned unitized and protected

Whatever be the logistics considerations packaging is one key food productattribute perceived by consumers It cannot escape performing the marketing functioneven if a company does not explicitly recognize the marketing aspects of packagingThe package is a critical factor in the decision-making process because itcommunicates to consumers Intention to purchase depends on the degree to whichconsumers expect the product to satisfy them when they consume it (Kupiec andRevell 2001) How they perceive it depends on communication elements which becomethe key to success for many marketing strategies

The packagersquos overall features can underline the uniqueness and originality of theproduct In addition quality judgments are largely influenced by productcharacteristics reflected by packaging If it communicates high quality consumersassume that the product is of high quality If the package symbolizes low qualityconsumers transfer this low quality perception to the product itself The packagecommunicates favorable or unfavorable implied meaning about the productUnderwood et al (2001) suggest that consumers are more likely to spontaneouslyimagine aspects of how a product looks tastes feels smells or sounds while they areviewing a product picture on the package

Consumer decision-making can be defined as a mental orientation characterizing aconsumerrsquos approach to making choice (Lysonski et al 1996) This approach dealswith cognitive and affective orientations in the process of decision-making Four mainpackaging elements potentially affect consumer purchase decisions which can beseparated into two categories visual and informational elements The visual elementsconsist of graphics and sizeshape of packaging and relate more to the affective side ofdecision-making Informational elements relate to information provided andtechnologies used in the package and are more likely to address the cognitive sideof decisions

Most FMCG are low involvement products In low involvement ldquoconsumers do notsearch extensively for information about the brands evaluate their characteristics andmake a weighty decision on which brand to buyrdquo (Kotler et al 1996 p 225) One reasonfor this is low risk (Chaudhuri 2000 Mitchell 1999) ie these products are simply notvery important The lack of substantial evaluation often results in the inability todistinguish much difference among leading brands (McWilliam 1997) A commonresult is relatively weak ldquohabitrdquo brand loyalty Thus when consumers find a brandwhich meets their standards they tend to stay ldquosatisfiedrdquo with it especially if they areconstantly reminded of the brand But they are not very committed and substituteeasily when it is not available

Such habit loyalty is fairly common in the West eg IGD (2002a) notes that aboutone-third of women shoppers and slightly fewer men buy food products through habitIt is also quite common in Thailand and more broadly in Asia (Speece 1998 2003)Survey data from Thailand indicate that packaging plays a strong role in remindingconsumers about the brand (Silayoi et al 2003) ie it helps to reinforce habit loyalty

BFJ1068

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Some observers though note that not all consumers view grocery shopping as alow involvement activity Beharrell and Denison (1995) show a range of involvementamong European consumers Those with higher involvement tend to be more stronglybrand loyal including willingness to postpone purchase or go to another store if thebrand is not available In Thailand about 20-40 percent of consumers for most FMCGshow this level of loyalty and will postpone or search rather than simply switch to asubstitute (Speece 1998 2003)

Clearly consumer use of packaging elements is quite an important issue for lowinvolvement products ndash generally informational elements require more mental effortto process than do visual elements which evoke more of an emotional response Someconsumers are not willing to put forth this small effort and food products which is oftruly low involvement for them Others may consider the product more carefully sothat involvement level might shift the package elements which are most critical Welook at these various elements in more detail in the remainder of this section toexamine how consumers are likely to use each one

Visual elementsGraphics and colorGraphics includes layout color combinations typography and product photographyall of which create an image For low involvement there is a strong impact frommarketing communications including image building on consumer decision-makingEvaluation of attributes is of less importance in low involvement decisions sographics and color become critical (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) For manyconsumers in low involvement the package is the product particularly becauseimpressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact As the productattribute which most directly communicates to the target consumer (Nancarrow et al1998) the design characteristics of the package need to stand out in a display of manyother offerings

Many consumers today shop under higher levels of perceived time pressure andtend to purchase fewer products than intended (Herrington and Capella 1995)Products often appear to be chosen without prior planning representing a form ofimpulse buying (Hausman 2000) A package that attracts consumers at the point ofsale will help them make decisions quickly in-store As the customerrsquos eye tracksacross a display of packages different new packages can be noticed against thecompetitors However eye movement does not necessarily mean attention Whenscanning packages in the supermarket the differential perception and the positioningof the graphics elements on a package may make the difference between identifyingand missing an item (Herrington and Capella 1995)

In psychology research brain laterality results in an asymmetry in the perception ofelements in package designs (Rettie and Brewer 2000) The recall of package elementsis likely to be influenced by their lateral position on the package as well as by factorssuch as font style size and color Recall is better for verbal stimuli when the copy is onthe right hand side of the package and better for non-verbal stimuli when it is on theleft hand side This may imply that in order to maximize consumer recall pictorialelements such as product photography should be positioned on the left hand side ofthe package

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

611

Consumers also learn color associations which lead them to prefer certain colors forvarious product categories (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) Using color as a cue onpackaging can be a potentially strong association especially when it is unique to aparticular brand However people in different cultures are exposed to different colorassociations and develop color preferences based on their own culturersquos associationsSimply taking the colors of a particular logo package or product design from onemarket to another should only be done under a thorough understanding of how colorsand color combinations are perceived in each location (Madden et al 2000)

Packaging size and shapePackage size shape and elongation also affects consumer judgment and decisions butnot always in easily uncovered ways Consumers appear to use these things assimplifying visual heuristics to make volume judgments Generally they perceive moreelongated packages to be larger even when they frequently purchase these packagesand can experience true volume This implies that disconfirmation of package size afterconsumption may not lead consumers to revise their volume judgments in the longterm especially if the discrepancy is not very large (Raghubir and Krishna 1999)

Different sizes also appeal to consumers with somewhat different involvement Forexample low price for some low involvement products such as generics is madepossible through cost savings created by reduced packaging and promotionalexpenses Generics are usually packaged in larger sizes which communicates toconsumers who are specifically looking for good deals Such consumers find the lowprice of the generics in the right size of packaging offers excellent value for money(Prendergast and Marr 1997) In addition this could imply that when product qualityis hard to determine as with generics the packaging size effect is stronger

Informational elementsProduct informationThe behavior of consumers toward products characterized by high involvement is lessinfluenced by image issues and visual response (Kupiec and Revell 2001) in such casesconsumers need more information Written information on the package can assistconsumers in making their decisions carefully as they consider product characteristicsHowever packaging information can create confusion by conveying either too muchinformation or misleading and inaccurate information Manufacturers often use verysmall fonts and very dense writing styles to pack extensive information onto the labelwhich lead to poor readability and sometimes confusion

Mitchell and Papavassiliou (1999) suggest that one way consumers reduceconfusion from information overload is to narrow down their choice sets Reducingchoice alternatives and evaluative attributes decreases the probability that they will beconfused by excessive choice and information overload This strategy could apply tomore experienced consumers because heavy users potentially look at fewer brandalternatives In other words experience makes consumers selectively perceptive andrestricts the scope of their search (Hausman 2000) This is effectively a form of brandloyalty brought about because consumers do not necessarily want to continue readinglabels every time they buy a particular product

Many consumers appreciate food labeling but are not satisfied with standardformats For example UK survey data indicates that nearly two-thirds of consumers

BFJ1068

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now read food labels but one-third want to see clearer labeling (IGD 2003c) Otherresearch in the UK also shows that many consumers find the format prescribed in lawfor both voluntary and compulsory labeling difficult to use (FSA 2003) In anotherrecent survey 90 percent of people agreed that nutritional information panels shouldbe laid out in the same way for all food products so that they are easy to understandquickly (Mitchell and Papavassiliou 1999)

While not all consumers use it the trend seems to be toward increasing attention tosuch label information Partly concerns about food safety and nutritional health drivethis trend (Coulson 2000 IGD 2003d Smith and Riethmuller 2000) but it is alsodriven by the gradually increasing consumer sophistication During Thailandrsquos recentrecession for example consumers were loathed to sacrifice living standards but theydid have to watch budgets more carefully They began evaluating products morecarefully to make sure they were worth the prices charged (Speece 2003) Whatever bethe reasons more highly involved consumers evaluate message information relying onmessage argument quality to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Vakratsasand Ambler 1999)

On the other hand packaged food products remain low in involvement for manyconsumers In general consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often donewithout carefully examining brand and product information The lack of commitmentand attention implies that information on the package carries relatively less value withconsumers who view packaged food as low involvement products

Packaging technologyTechnology developed for packaging comes directly from the current trends inproducts and consumer behaviors Powerful retailers also seek greater responsivenessand flexibility from manufacturers including packaging to satisfy consumers who aremore demanding and sophisticated (Adebanjo 2000) Customers are often prepared topay slightly more for enhanced product value indicating desire for more qualityHowever product and packaging development also constrained in creating productsthat fully meet the consumer and channel criteria Such constraints might becategorized as ingredient processing and cost restraints

Innovation must respond and develop new products that are more efficientlyproduced packaged for a longer shelf life environmentally friendly nutritionallyresponsive to each of the emerging segments of society and meet maximum foodsafety requirements (McIlveen 1994) Technology embodied in the package plays a bigrole in this making it somewhat of a special form of informational element In additionto its technical role packaging technology also conveys information which is oftenlinked to the consumerrsquos lifestyle Therefore in order to survive in high growthcompetitive markets technology becomes very important for developing packagingmaterials and processes

It is clear from the review of literature that the importance of packagingdevelopment is high as packaging plays a major role in consumer decisions of fastmoving packaged food products Earlier research however is not very extensive andhas not looked very carefully at differences in how packaging elements are used fordecisions based on levels of involvement and time pressure In the next section wediscuss focus group research to examine these issues among middle class consumers inBangkok

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

613

MethodologyFocus groups were used for this study in order to gain in-depth insights into consumershopping behaviors for packaged food products Qualitative approaches provide richerdetail for exploring viewpoints in early stages of research allowing the researcher togain a better initial understanding of issues (Healy and Perry 2000) Focus groupinterviews are particularly a good process for generating hypotheses and interpretingconsumer thinking Focus group methodologies do not aim for precise measurementbut rather at gaining in-depth knowledge about certain topic areas A focus group isespecially useful for learning about participantsrsquo conceptualizations of particularphenomena and the language they use to describe them (Blackburn and Stokes 2000Jinks and Daniels 1999)

Two focus groups of six housewives and six working women were conducted inBangkok Focus groups may not be fully representative of target populations but itwas important to ensure that the results could illustrate possible variations within thecity and provide some level of generalisability Invited participants were stratifiedaccording to household income marital status number of children and familymembers and age One group concentrated on 35-42 year old housewives with 2-3children and one on 27-36 year old married working women without children For bothgroups household income of a minimum of 40000 Bahtmonth and a maximum of80000 Baht were adopted (slightly less than US$ 1000-2000month) to represent solidmiddle class income levels

The study aimed to get the participants who are responsible for householdshopping In most countries women are still mainly responsible for householdshopping and remain the main decision makers for frequently purchased packagedfood products Thailand fits this pattern and screening questions indicated thatparticipants made the purchase decisions for packaged food products

The discussions were guided by a moderator (one of the authors) whose role was todevelop the exploration of the topics This researcher was previously unknown to anyparticipant so that the groups had no pre-conceived ideas about the research andresearcher influence on responses would be minimal In the interviews it is importantto get people to feel comfortable with expressing honest and open answers (Cowley2000) The interviewees were promised that individual identities would not be revealedin any way while reporting the data The interviews were recorded and the researchertook notes of all the interactions The sessions were guided by a list of topics whichacted as the framework for discussion

FindingsBoth sets of participants identified packaging elements as the main factors in theirassessment and decisions on household purchases The packaging elements identifiedmost often were graphics and color shape and size and product information Thesedimensions were seen as important by most participants In the following discussionwe examine these elements and the impact of involvement level and time pressure inmore detail

Impact of involvement levelParticipants defined involvement level based on perceptions of product importance Intheir purchase strategies the most familiar product would potentially be bought by

BFJ1068

614

many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

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involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

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618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

Some observers though note that not all consumers view grocery shopping as alow involvement activity Beharrell and Denison (1995) show a range of involvementamong European consumers Those with higher involvement tend to be more stronglybrand loyal including willingness to postpone purchase or go to another store if thebrand is not available In Thailand about 20-40 percent of consumers for most FMCGshow this level of loyalty and will postpone or search rather than simply switch to asubstitute (Speece 1998 2003)

Clearly consumer use of packaging elements is quite an important issue for lowinvolvement products ndash generally informational elements require more mental effortto process than do visual elements which evoke more of an emotional response Someconsumers are not willing to put forth this small effort and food products which is oftruly low involvement for them Others may consider the product more carefully sothat involvement level might shift the package elements which are most critical Welook at these various elements in more detail in the remainder of this section toexamine how consumers are likely to use each one

Visual elementsGraphics and colorGraphics includes layout color combinations typography and product photographyall of which create an image For low involvement there is a strong impact frommarketing communications including image building on consumer decision-makingEvaluation of attributes is of less importance in low involvement decisions sographics and color become critical (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) For manyconsumers in low involvement the package is the product particularly becauseimpressions formed during initial contact can have lasting impact As the productattribute which most directly communicates to the target consumer (Nancarrow et al1998) the design characteristics of the package need to stand out in a display of manyother offerings

Many consumers today shop under higher levels of perceived time pressure andtend to purchase fewer products than intended (Herrington and Capella 1995)Products often appear to be chosen without prior planning representing a form ofimpulse buying (Hausman 2000) A package that attracts consumers at the point ofsale will help them make decisions quickly in-store As the customerrsquos eye tracksacross a display of packages different new packages can be noticed against thecompetitors However eye movement does not necessarily mean attention Whenscanning packages in the supermarket the differential perception and the positioningof the graphics elements on a package may make the difference between identifyingand missing an item (Herrington and Capella 1995)

In psychology research brain laterality results in an asymmetry in the perception ofelements in package designs (Rettie and Brewer 2000) The recall of package elementsis likely to be influenced by their lateral position on the package as well as by factorssuch as font style size and color Recall is better for verbal stimuli when the copy is onthe right hand side of the package and better for non-verbal stimuli when it is on theleft hand side This may imply that in order to maximize consumer recall pictorialelements such as product photography should be positioned on the left hand side ofthe package

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

611

Consumers also learn color associations which lead them to prefer certain colors forvarious product categories (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) Using color as a cue onpackaging can be a potentially strong association especially when it is unique to aparticular brand However people in different cultures are exposed to different colorassociations and develop color preferences based on their own culturersquos associationsSimply taking the colors of a particular logo package or product design from onemarket to another should only be done under a thorough understanding of how colorsand color combinations are perceived in each location (Madden et al 2000)

Packaging size and shapePackage size shape and elongation also affects consumer judgment and decisions butnot always in easily uncovered ways Consumers appear to use these things assimplifying visual heuristics to make volume judgments Generally they perceive moreelongated packages to be larger even when they frequently purchase these packagesand can experience true volume This implies that disconfirmation of package size afterconsumption may not lead consumers to revise their volume judgments in the longterm especially if the discrepancy is not very large (Raghubir and Krishna 1999)

Different sizes also appeal to consumers with somewhat different involvement Forexample low price for some low involvement products such as generics is madepossible through cost savings created by reduced packaging and promotionalexpenses Generics are usually packaged in larger sizes which communicates toconsumers who are specifically looking for good deals Such consumers find the lowprice of the generics in the right size of packaging offers excellent value for money(Prendergast and Marr 1997) In addition this could imply that when product qualityis hard to determine as with generics the packaging size effect is stronger

Informational elementsProduct informationThe behavior of consumers toward products characterized by high involvement is lessinfluenced by image issues and visual response (Kupiec and Revell 2001) in such casesconsumers need more information Written information on the package can assistconsumers in making their decisions carefully as they consider product characteristicsHowever packaging information can create confusion by conveying either too muchinformation or misleading and inaccurate information Manufacturers often use verysmall fonts and very dense writing styles to pack extensive information onto the labelwhich lead to poor readability and sometimes confusion

Mitchell and Papavassiliou (1999) suggest that one way consumers reduceconfusion from information overload is to narrow down their choice sets Reducingchoice alternatives and evaluative attributes decreases the probability that they will beconfused by excessive choice and information overload This strategy could apply tomore experienced consumers because heavy users potentially look at fewer brandalternatives In other words experience makes consumers selectively perceptive andrestricts the scope of their search (Hausman 2000) This is effectively a form of brandloyalty brought about because consumers do not necessarily want to continue readinglabels every time they buy a particular product

Many consumers appreciate food labeling but are not satisfied with standardformats For example UK survey data indicates that nearly two-thirds of consumers

BFJ1068

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now read food labels but one-third want to see clearer labeling (IGD 2003c) Otherresearch in the UK also shows that many consumers find the format prescribed in lawfor both voluntary and compulsory labeling difficult to use (FSA 2003) In anotherrecent survey 90 percent of people agreed that nutritional information panels shouldbe laid out in the same way for all food products so that they are easy to understandquickly (Mitchell and Papavassiliou 1999)

While not all consumers use it the trend seems to be toward increasing attention tosuch label information Partly concerns about food safety and nutritional health drivethis trend (Coulson 2000 IGD 2003d Smith and Riethmuller 2000) but it is alsodriven by the gradually increasing consumer sophistication During Thailandrsquos recentrecession for example consumers were loathed to sacrifice living standards but theydid have to watch budgets more carefully They began evaluating products morecarefully to make sure they were worth the prices charged (Speece 2003) Whatever bethe reasons more highly involved consumers evaluate message information relying onmessage argument quality to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Vakratsasand Ambler 1999)

On the other hand packaged food products remain low in involvement for manyconsumers In general consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often donewithout carefully examining brand and product information The lack of commitmentand attention implies that information on the package carries relatively less value withconsumers who view packaged food as low involvement products

Packaging technologyTechnology developed for packaging comes directly from the current trends inproducts and consumer behaviors Powerful retailers also seek greater responsivenessand flexibility from manufacturers including packaging to satisfy consumers who aremore demanding and sophisticated (Adebanjo 2000) Customers are often prepared topay slightly more for enhanced product value indicating desire for more qualityHowever product and packaging development also constrained in creating productsthat fully meet the consumer and channel criteria Such constraints might becategorized as ingredient processing and cost restraints

Innovation must respond and develop new products that are more efficientlyproduced packaged for a longer shelf life environmentally friendly nutritionallyresponsive to each of the emerging segments of society and meet maximum foodsafety requirements (McIlveen 1994) Technology embodied in the package plays a bigrole in this making it somewhat of a special form of informational element In additionto its technical role packaging technology also conveys information which is oftenlinked to the consumerrsquos lifestyle Therefore in order to survive in high growthcompetitive markets technology becomes very important for developing packagingmaterials and processes

It is clear from the review of literature that the importance of packagingdevelopment is high as packaging plays a major role in consumer decisions of fastmoving packaged food products Earlier research however is not very extensive andhas not looked very carefully at differences in how packaging elements are used fordecisions based on levels of involvement and time pressure In the next section wediscuss focus group research to examine these issues among middle class consumers inBangkok

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

613

MethodologyFocus groups were used for this study in order to gain in-depth insights into consumershopping behaviors for packaged food products Qualitative approaches provide richerdetail for exploring viewpoints in early stages of research allowing the researcher togain a better initial understanding of issues (Healy and Perry 2000) Focus groupinterviews are particularly a good process for generating hypotheses and interpretingconsumer thinking Focus group methodologies do not aim for precise measurementbut rather at gaining in-depth knowledge about certain topic areas A focus group isespecially useful for learning about participantsrsquo conceptualizations of particularphenomena and the language they use to describe them (Blackburn and Stokes 2000Jinks and Daniels 1999)

Two focus groups of six housewives and six working women were conducted inBangkok Focus groups may not be fully representative of target populations but itwas important to ensure that the results could illustrate possible variations within thecity and provide some level of generalisability Invited participants were stratifiedaccording to household income marital status number of children and familymembers and age One group concentrated on 35-42 year old housewives with 2-3children and one on 27-36 year old married working women without children For bothgroups household income of a minimum of 40000 Bahtmonth and a maximum of80000 Baht were adopted (slightly less than US$ 1000-2000month) to represent solidmiddle class income levels

The study aimed to get the participants who are responsible for householdshopping In most countries women are still mainly responsible for householdshopping and remain the main decision makers for frequently purchased packagedfood products Thailand fits this pattern and screening questions indicated thatparticipants made the purchase decisions for packaged food products

The discussions were guided by a moderator (one of the authors) whose role was todevelop the exploration of the topics This researcher was previously unknown to anyparticipant so that the groups had no pre-conceived ideas about the research andresearcher influence on responses would be minimal In the interviews it is importantto get people to feel comfortable with expressing honest and open answers (Cowley2000) The interviewees were promised that individual identities would not be revealedin any way while reporting the data The interviews were recorded and the researchertook notes of all the interactions The sessions were guided by a list of topics whichacted as the framework for discussion

FindingsBoth sets of participants identified packaging elements as the main factors in theirassessment and decisions on household purchases The packaging elements identifiedmost often were graphics and color shape and size and product information Thesedimensions were seen as important by most participants In the following discussionwe examine these elements and the impact of involvement level and time pressure inmore detail

Impact of involvement levelParticipants defined involvement level based on perceptions of product importance Intheir purchase strategies the most familiar product would potentially be bought by

BFJ1068

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many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

BFJ1068

616

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

Consumers also learn color associations which lead them to prefer certain colors forvarious product categories (Grossman and Wisenblit 1999) Using color as a cue onpackaging can be a potentially strong association especially when it is unique to aparticular brand However people in different cultures are exposed to different colorassociations and develop color preferences based on their own culturersquos associationsSimply taking the colors of a particular logo package or product design from onemarket to another should only be done under a thorough understanding of how colorsand color combinations are perceived in each location (Madden et al 2000)

Packaging size and shapePackage size shape and elongation also affects consumer judgment and decisions butnot always in easily uncovered ways Consumers appear to use these things assimplifying visual heuristics to make volume judgments Generally they perceive moreelongated packages to be larger even when they frequently purchase these packagesand can experience true volume This implies that disconfirmation of package size afterconsumption may not lead consumers to revise their volume judgments in the longterm especially if the discrepancy is not very large (Raghubir and Krishna 1999)

Different sizes also appeal to consumers with somewhat different involvement Forexample low price for some low involvement products such as generics is madepossible through cost savings created by reduced packaging and promotionalexpenses Generics are usually packaged in larger sizes which communicates toconsumers who are specifically looking for good deals Such consumers find the lowprice of the generics in the right size of packaging offers excellent value for money(Prendergast and Marr 1997) In addition this could imply that when product qualityis hard to determine as with generics the packaging size effect is stronger

Informational elementsProduct informationThe behavior of consumers toward products characterized by high involvement is lessinfluenced by image issues and visual response (Kupiec and Revell 2001) in such casesconsumers need more information Written information on the package can assistconsumers in making their decisions carefully as they consider product characteristicsHowever packaging information can create confusion by conveying either too muchinformation or misleading and inaccurate information Manufacturers often use verysmall fonts and very dense writing styles to pack extensive information onto the labelwhich lead to poor readability and sometimes confusion

Mitchell and Papavassiliou (1999) suggest that one way consumers reduceconfusion from information overload is to narrow down their choice sets Reducingchoice alternatives and evaluative attributes decreases the probability that they will beconfused by excessive choice and information overload This strategy could apply tomore experienced consumers because heavy users potentially look at fewer brandalternatives In other words experience makes consumers selectively perceptive andrestricts the scope of their search (Hausman 2000) This is effectively a form of brandloyalty brought about because consumers do not necessarily want to continue readinglabels every time they buy a particular product

Many consumers appreciate food labeling but are not satisfied with standardformats For example UK survey data indicates that nearly two-thirds of consumers

BFJ1068

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now read food labels but one-third want to see clearer labeling (IGD 2003c) Otherresearch in the UK also shows that many consumers find the format prescribed in lawfor both voluntary and compulsory labeling difficult to use (FSA 2003) In anotherrecent survey 90 percent of people agreed that nutritional information panels shouldbe laid out in the same way for all food products so that they are easy to understandquickly (Mitchell and Papavassiliou 1999)

While not all consumers use it the trend seems to be toward increasing attention tosuch label information Partly concerns about food safety and nutritional health drivethis trend (Coulson 2000 IGD 2003d Smith and Riethmuller 2000) but it is alsodriven by the gradually increasing consumer sophistication During Thailandrsquos recentrecession for example consumers were loathed to sacrifice living standards but theydid have to watch budgets more carefully They began evaluating products morecarefully to make sure they were worth the prices charged (Speece 2003) Whatever bethe reasons more highly involved consumers evaluate message information relying onmessage argument quality to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Vakratsasand Ambler 1999)

On the other hand packaged food products remain low in involvement for manyconsumers In general consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often donewithout carefully examining brand and product information The lack of commitmentand attention implies that information on the package carries relatively less value withconsumers who view packaged food as low involvement products

Packaging technologyTechnology developed for packaging comes directly from the current trends inproducts and consumer behaviors Powerful retailers also seek greater responsivenessand flexibility from manufacturers including packaging to satisfy consumers who aremore demanding and sophisticated (Adebanjo 2000) Customers are often prepared topay slightly more for enhanced product value indicating desire for more qualityHowever product and packaging development also constrained in creating productsthat fully meet the consumer and channel criteria Such constraints might becategorized as ingredient processing and cost restraints

Innovation must respond and develop new products that are more efficientlyproduced packaged for a longer shelf life environmentally friendly nutritionallyresponsive to each of the emerging segments of society and meet maximum foodsafety requirements (McIlveen 1994) Technology embodied in the package plays a bigrole in this making it somewhat of a special form of informational element In additionto its technical role packaging technology also conveys information which is oftenlinked to the consumerrsquos lifestyle Therefore in order to survive in high growthcompetitive markets technology becomes very important for developing packagingmaterials and processes

It is clear from the review of literature that the importance of packagingdevelopment is high as packaging plays a major role in consumer decisions of fastmoving packaged food products Earlier research however is not very extensive andhas not looked very carefully at differences in how packaging elements are used fordecisions based on levels of involvement and time pressure In the next section wediscuss focus group research to examine these issues among middle class consumers inBangkok

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

613

MethodologyFocus groups were used for this study in order to gain in-depth insights into consumershopping behaviors for packaged food products Qualitative approaches provide richerdetail for exploring viewpoints in early stages of research allowing the researcher togain a better initial understanding of issues (Healy and Perry 2000) Focus groupinterviews are particularly a good process for generating hypotheses and interpretingconsumer thinking Focus group methodologies do not aim for precise measurementbut rather at gaining in-depth knowledge about certain topic areas A focus group isespecially useful for learning about participantsrsquo conceptualizations of particularphenomena and the language they use to describe them (Blackburn and Stokes 2000Jinks and Daniels 1999)

Two focus groups of six housewives and six working women were conducted inBangkok Focus groups may not be fully representative of target populations but itwas important to ensure that the results could illustrate possible variations within thecity and provide some level of generalisability Invited participants were stratifiedaccording to household income marital status number of children and familymembers and age One group concentrated on 35-42 year old housewives with 2-3children and one on 27-36 year old married working women without children For bothgroups household income of a minimum of 40000 Bahtmonth and a maximum of80000 Baht were adopted (slightly less than US$ 1000-2000month) to represent solidmiddle class income levels

The study aimed to get the participants who are responsible for householdshopping In most countries women are still mainly responsible for householdshopping and remain the main decision makers for frequently purchased packagedfood products Thailand fits this pattern and screening questions indicated thatparticipants made the purchase decisions for packaged food products

The discussions were guided by a moderator (one of the authors) whose role was todevelop the exploration of the topics This researcher was previously unknown to anyparticipant so that the groups had no pre-conceived ideas about the research andresearcher influence on responses would be minimal In the interviews it is importantto get people to feel comfortable with expressing honest and open answers (Cowley2000) The interviewees were promised that individual identities would not be revealedin any way while reporting the data The interviews were recorded and the researchertook notes of all the interactions The sessions were guided by a list of topics whichacted as the framework for discussion

FindingsBoth sets of participants identified packaging elements as the main factors in theirassessment and decisions on household purchases The packaging elements identifiedmost often were graphics and color shape and size and product information Thesedimensions were seen as important by most participants In the following discussionwe examine these elements and the impact of involvement level and time pressure inmore detail

Impact of involvement levelParticipants defined involvement level based on perceptions of product importance Intheir purchase strategies the most familiar product would potentially be bought by

BFJ1068

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many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

BFJ1068

616

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

now read food labels but one-third want to see clearer labeling (IGD 2003c) Otherresearch in the UK also shows that many consumers find the format prescribed in lawfor both voluntary and compulsory labeling difficult to use (FSA 2003) In anotherrecent survey 90 percent of people agreed that nutritional information panels shouldbe laid out in the same way for all food products so that they are easy to understandquickly (Mitchell and Papavassiliou 1999)

While not all consumers use it the trend seems to be toward increasing attention tosuch label information Partly concerns about food safety and nutritional health drivethis trend (Coulson 2000 IGD 2003d Smith and Riethmuller 2000) but it is alsodriven by the gradually increasing consumer sophistication During Thailandrsquos recentrecession for example consumers were loathed to sacrifice living standards but theydid have to watch budgets more carefully They began evaluating products morecarefully to make sure they were worth the prices charged (Speece 2003) Whatever bethe reasons more highly involved consumers evaluate message information relying onmessage argument quality to form their attitudes and purchase intentions (Vakratsasand Ambler 1999)

On the other hand packaged food products remain low in involvement for manyconsumers In general consumer acquisition of low involvement products is often donewithout carefully examining brand and product information The lack of commitmentand attention implies that information on the package carries relatively less value withconsumers who view packaged food as low involvement products

Packaging technologyTechnology developed for packaging comes directly from the current trends inproducts and consumer behaviors Powerful retailers also seek greater responsivenessand flexibility from manufacturers including packaging to satisfy consumers who aremore demanding and sophisticated (Adebanjo 2000) Customers are often prepared topay slightly more for enhanced product value indicating desire for more qualityHowever product and packaging development also constrained in creating productsthat fully meet the consumer and channel criteria Such constraints might becategorized as ingredient processing and cost restraints

Innovation must respond and develop new products that are more efficientlyproduced packaged for a longer shelf life environmentally friendly nutritionallyresponsive to each of the emerging segments of society and meet maximum foodsafety requirements (McIlveen 1994) Technology embodied in the package plays a bigrole in this making it somewhat of a special form of informational element In additionto its technical role packaging technology also conveys information which is oftenlinked to the consumerrsquos lifestyle Therefore in order to survive in high growthcompetitive markets technology becomes very important for developing packagingmaterials and processes

It is clear from the review of literature that the importance of packagingdevelopment is high as packaging plays a major role in consumer decisions of fastmoving packaged food products Earlier research however is not very extensive andhas not looked very carefully at differences in how packaging elements are used fordecisions based on levels of involvement and time pressure In the next section wediscuss focus group research to examine these issues among middle class consumers inBangkok

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

613

MethodologyFocus groups were used for this study in order to gain in-depth insights into consumershopping behaviors for packaged food products Qualitative approaches provide richerdetail for exploring viewpoints in early stages of research allowing the researcher togain a better initial understanding of issues (Healy and Perry 2000) Focus groupinterviews are particularly a good process for generating hypotheses and interpretingconsumer thinking Focus group methodologies do not aim for precise measurementbut rather at gaining in-depth knowledge about certain topic areas A focus group isespecially useful for learning about participantsrsquo conceptualizations of particularphenomena and the language they use to describe them (Blackburn and Stokes 2000Jinks and Daniels 1999)

Two focus groups of six housewives and six working women were conducted inBangkok Focus groups may not be fully representative of target populations but itwas important to ensure that the results could illustrate possible variations within thecity and provide some level of generalisability Invited participants were stratifiedaccording to household income marital status number of children and familymembers and age One group concentrated on 35-42 year old housewives with 2-3children and one on 27-36 year old married working women without children For bothgroups household income of a minimum of 40000 Bahtmonth and a maximum of80000 Baht were adopted (slightly less than US$ 1000-2000month) to represent solidmiddle class income levels

The study aimed to get the participants who are responsible for householdshopping In most countries women are still mainly responsible for householdshopping and remain the main decision makers for frequently purchased packagedfood products Thailand fits this pattern and screening questions indicated thatparticipants made the purchase decisions for packaged food products

The discussions were guided by a moderator (one of the authors) whose role was todevelop the exploration of the topics This researcher was previously unknown to anyparticipant so that the groups had no pre-conceived ideas about the research andresearcher influence on responses would be minimal In the interviews it is importantto get people to feel comfortable with expressing honest and open answers (Cowley2000) The interviewees were promised that individual identities would not be revealedin any way while reporting the data The interviews were recorded and the researchertook notes of all the interactions The sessions were guided by a list of topics whichacted as the framework for discussion

FindingsBoth sets of participants identified packaging elements as the main factors in theirassessment and decisions on household purchases The packaging elements identifiedmost often were graphics and color shape and size and product information Thesedimensions were seen as important by most participants In the following discussionwe examine these elements and the impact of involvement level and time pressure inmore detail

Impact of involvement levelParticipants defined involvement level based on perceptions of product importance Intheir purchase strategies the most familiar product would potentially be bought by

BFJ1068

614

many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

BFJ1068

616

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

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expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

MethodologyFocus groups were used for this study in order to gain in-depth insights into consumershopping behaviors for packaged food products Qualitative approaches provide richerdetail for exploring viewpoints in early stages of research allowing the researcher togain a better initial understanding of issues (Healy and Perry 2000) Focus groupinterviews are particularly a good process for generating hypotheses and interpretingconsumer thinking Focus group methodologies do not aim for precise measurementbut rather at gaining in-depth knowledge about certain topic areas A focus group isespecially useful for learning about participantsrsquo conceptualizations of particularphenomena and the language they use to describe them (Blackburn and Stokes 2000Jinks and Daniels 1999)

Two focus groups of six housewives and six working women were conducted inBangkok Focus groups may not be fully representative of target populations but itwas important to ensure that the results could illustrate possible variations within thecity and provide some level of generalisability Invited participants were stratifiedaccording to household income marital status number of children and familymembers and age One group concentrated on 35-42 year old housewives with 2-3children and one on 27-36 year old married working women without children For bothgroups household income of a minimum of 40000 Bahtmonth and a maximum of80000 Baht were adopted (slightly less than US$ 1000-2000month) to represent solidmiddle class income levels

The study aimed to get the participants who are responsible for householdshopping In most countries women are still mainly responsible for householdshopping and remain the main decision makers for frequently purchased packagedfood products Thailand fits this pattern and screening questions indicated thatparticipants made the purchase decisions for packaged food products

The discussions were guided by a moderator (one of the authors) whose role was todevelop the exploration of the topics This researcher was previously unknown to anyparticipant so that the groups had no pre-conceived ideas about the research andresearcher influence on responses would be minimal In the interviews it is importantto get people to feel comfortable with expressing honest and open answers (Cowley2000) The interviewees were promised that individual identities would not be revealedin any way while reporting the data The interviews were recorded and the researchertook notes of all the interactions The sessions were guided by a list of topics whichacted as the framework for discussion

FindingsBoth sets of participants identified packaging elements as the main factors in theirassessment and decisions on household purchases The packaging elements identifiedmost often were graphics and color shape and size and product information Thesedimensions were seen as important by most participants In the following discussionwe examine these elements and the impact of involvement level and time pressure inmore detail

Impact of involvement levelParticipants defined involvement level based on perceptions of product importance Intheir purchase strategies the most familiar product would potentially be bought by

BFJ1068

614

many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

BFJ1068

616

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

many consumers The focus groups also noted that without their usual choices theproduct from a well-known company would be more reliable These types of viewsreflect the use of brand as a simplifying heuristic so that consumers do not need tothink very deeply in their choices

I decide to buy well-known brands especially for food because I have found them reliable

The brand usually seen from TV will be bought as I am familiar with it

When there is choice I rely on the most familiar brand or something from a big company

(Note these and all subsequent quotes are translated from Thai by the researcher)Participants also ascertained product quality by screening product appearance

Quality judgments are largely influenced by product characteristics reflected bypackaging If the package communicates high quality consumers assume that theproduct is of high quality unless they have other negative information Someparticipants for example said

Without experience I buy food by considering the appearance of the package reflectingpremium quality

Nice package design can influence my decision as it sometimes reflects good quality products

Some packages are made of high quality material with neat design I cannot deny that theproduct would be premium also That is why I bought them to try

Even though it is hard to define quality I believe that a well-designed package helps me inbeing more confident about the product

The visual element is foremost when they discuss brand choices this way Howeverparticipants suggested that directly consumed products need to be carefully selectedespecially many food and skincare products Many such products require somewhathigher involvement and other household products such as shower gel shampoowashing liquid and detergent were defined at a lower level of involvement Higherinvolvement results in more attention to product characteristics and sometimesstronger brand loyalty

I consider food products with more care as they directly affect my health This means I needto carefully select such products

Nutrition facts on the package are very important for me to judge the product quality

I find food and skincare products are very specific If the particular brand is not available inthe store I decide to postpone my purchase Or sometimes I try to buy from other stores

Conversely several quotes illustrate the lower importance of some other food productcategories which seem to be perceived much more as commodities

It is not critical to choose specific brands of grocery products such as rice or sugar

If my brand is not there to choose I usually buy some other brands which have similarfunctions such as if I cannot find the oil I usually buy I will try another brand

I am willing to try a new product such as pepper salt and herbs Because it is not importantfor me to stick with one brand as long as it would not work differently

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

615

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

BFJ1068

616

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

Some food products clearly arouse higher involvement levels but some consumers aremore involved than others Other food products are still perceived as commodities sothat attention to and evaluation of specific brands is not critical Involvement arises asa result of ongoing interest in the product class and its association with the individualrsquosvalues self-concept and feelings of well-being Some participants suggested thatcharacteristics of the products and brands themselves may steadily act to arouse theirinvolvement

These views seem consistent with the West (Beharrell and Denison 1995) Brandloyalty and habit shopping are common there also although the proportion ofconsumers who are strongly brand loyal may be lower than in Asia Palumbo andHerbig (2000) note a UK survey in which 61 percent of affluent adult shoppers tendedto agree that they liked to find one brand to stay with One respondent in another UKsurvey evaluated products hardly at all showing an extreme reliance on (store) brandldquoI never look at the labels if something is good enough for Asda to sell then it is goodenough for merdquo (IGD 2002a p 21) However another common approach is indicatedby another survey in which the majority of consumers wanted to see specificnutritional information on the label (IGD 2003c)

Time pressureTime pressure frequently affects shopping decisions Participants agreed that whenshopping under relatively high time constraints they spend less time making anygiven purchase They described shopping under time pressure as making quickdecisions without careful evaluation This made them purchase fewer products thanintended and led to unplanned purchases It was more difficult to make decisionsespecially when considering multiple brands or product attributes They made mostdecisions quickly at the point of sale

I needed to pick something quickly while I was shopping with my kids

I feel pressured to complete my shopping quickly And it happened that I always boughtsomething I didnrsquot intend to

Grocery shopping is one of my responsibilities Whenever I am in rush it is hard for me tomake a decision Most of the time I made mistakes with those colorful products on the shelf

This final quote indicates that visual elements play a big role in decisions under timepressure which reduces ability to evaluate carefully ie it lowers involvementConsumers throughout the modern world report such patterns For example IGD(2003d) reports that many consumers do not have time to read food labels Often theywant label format standardized and in larger font and some even suggest color codingto make information more visual and easier to process quickly Other surveys indicatethat younger consumers feel even more time pressure (IGD 2001) and men are evenmore time oriented than women food shoppers (IGD 2002a) Time pressure thencounters the trend toward somewhat higher involvement toward food products andshifts the emphasis away from label information back toward visual package elements

Graphics and colorParticipants clearly felt that packaging helps contribute to a positive shoppingexperience Graphics communicate about the product for both low and higher

BFJ1068

616

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

involvement products and graphics and color were among the most highly noticeablefactors Poor graphics can lose the sale for many consumers while attractive graphicsgains it for many

When I am shopping in the supermarket a colorful pack catches my attention first But coloralso has different meaning I was recently put off the low fat biscuits by the pale colorpackage

I found the pale packaging is boring and dull If the pack is dull the food taste could beguessed as boring

I usually go for the colorful package when I am looking for kidsrsquo products

On my first purchase and without a favorite brand I made my decision on snacks or juices bythe design of the label If I like it Irsquoll certainly buy it

For low involvement products these decisions were usually made on pure likingSome participants suggested that the appearance of packaging reflected thecharacteristic of the buyers Therefore they intended to buy products with thedistinctive package design based on their images Distinctive graphics become partof the brand identifier and consumers use the graphics to cut through shelf clutterto find their brands

When I am looking for snack foods color of the package helps me to find the product easier such as I remembered that the color of my kidrsquos favorite biscuit bag was red So I keptlooking for the red bag on the shelf

Many consumers commented that similar graphics layout by other brands can misleadthem in identifying their brands Most participants had experienced the mistake ofpurchasing a product look-alike when they were in hurry For copycat brands thismight seem useful but one common emotional response on discovering the mistakewas disappointment and frequently some desire to be more careful next time Forexample

Similar graphic design on the package made me confused every time I was rushed

I was disappointed on buying wrong products because of those similar packages

Even under somewhat higher involvement visual elements influence choice of the foodproduct When consumers think about more careful evaluation of alternatives thegraphics frequently represent the product to them

I use the pictures on the pack to compare and differentiate among the brands This may bebased on my liking

This might be under time pressure or it could be a way to reduce the time needed fordecision But even when they actually read labels carefully participants tended to firstnotice many products by the package color which often reminded them about familiarbrands When they were looking for a particular product on the shelf packages withthe same range of color would attract their attention better than others Groupmembers suggested that graphics and pictorial elements on the packaging stronglyaffected their attention and agreed that one important role of the graphics is to gainconsideration for the brand

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

617

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

Nice graphics on the packs are always standing out from the shelf Most of the time I pickthem up at least to see more details

Certainly time pressure shifts emphasis in consumer thinking to the graphics Packagepictures increase attention and trial for some brands with low familiarity

When I was in rush nice pictures and bright color on the pack make it seem to be moreattractive than others I just unintentionally bought a box of biscuits only because of itsbeautiful design

Under limited time a beautiful package strongly influenced my decision when I could not seemy usually bought one

Thus graphics influence decisions under either time situation and whether higher orlow involvement When consumers feel no need to carefully consider productcharacteristics graphics drives their choice Some consumers feel that they areevaluating product attributes in that package graphics represent products Evenconsumers who actually examine products more carefully use graphics to cut throughshelf clutter and focus on their brands If they have no strong preference or are open totrying another brand graphics gain attention for more careful evaluation

The available data about the role of package graphics in choice seems to showsimilar patterns among consumers in the West For example IGD (2003b) reports on aUK survey which indicates that graphics and design can play a role in communicatinglabel information to consumers more effectively As noted above Underwood et al(2001) show that consumers use packaging to represent the product in theirimagination and Imram (1999) discusses how color influences quality perceptions

Packaging size and shapeSomewhat different from graphics and color group members feel that size and shapeare related to usability While consumers think of product pictures and graphics as ameans of communication discussion about size and shape focused more on packagingas convenient to use and carry For example

I found some packages were not convenient because they did not fit to my hands

Participants agreed that packaging shape also had some influence on their purchasedecisions As found in the literature the bigger package reflected better value(Prendergast and Marr 1997) Without their familiar brands bigger packages of verylow involvement items such as commodity food products tended to be chosenThe participants suggested that packaging size communicated higher value and is alsomore easily noticed When they scan different products the larger package stands outon the shelf

I usually buy the larger refill packs of instant coffee and cream

Bigger package was bought usually as I thought it would be value for money But I wouldconsider only the grocery products such as jasmine rice oil and sauces

Under limited time the bigger size seems to be more noticeable and attractive

But some participants had experienced inconsistency of size and after consuming suchproducts sometimes found that the package did not contain as much volume as

BFJ1068

618

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

expected This type of experience may affect their future purchase decisions In orderto make their judgments about volume more carefully after being fooled manyparticipants tended to read the information provided on the package

It happens very often that many packs do not contain the product volume as much as weexpected from the size

Sometimes when I see a big package or value pack it will remind me about my experiencewith inconsistency Therefore to avoid disappointment I need to read the information on thepackage more carefully

Package shapes could also help make products more appealing For childrenrsquosproducts distinctive packaging shapes were considered more attractive andrespondents reported that their children preferred to try products in differentpackaging shapes Usually in this context they indicated low involvement productswhich are essentiall commodities

My kids are always attracted by the weird shape of package The recent flavored milk theyasked for was a warped bottle with fantastic pictures

My children find those different bottles are funny and fascinating

Consumers from smaller households were not interested in larger packages and largersizes communicated waste to many of them Working women in particular suggestedthat the smaller package was more effective As their family size is small they tend tochoose packages with appropriate product portions

We never finish the larger pack of food before the expiry date So I decide to buy a smallerpackage which would be more suitable for my family

My family is quite small so that I prefer to buy a small portion of food And there seems to beseveral petite packs in the market

This thinking is also common in the West For example a UK survey of single menshoppers showed that they believe that extra volume in a sales promotion was wastedIt made the product too much for one meal and not enough for two meals so that oftenthe food could not all be eaten within the sell-by date (IGD 2002a)

InformationAs noted many consumers feel that it is important to consider information on thepackage in order to compare quality and value The trend toward healthier eating hashighlighted the importance of food labeling which allows consumers the opportunityto cautiously consider alternatives and make informed food choices (as in the West)(Coulson 2000) Consumers consider many packaged food products as higherinvolvement requiring more evaluation They tend to read the message on the labelmore often to ensure quality even though graphics and shape may affect theirattention at the beginning

Thus in contrast to consumers who rely on visual information many participantswere more likely to judge higher involvement products at least partly by informationprovided on the package Some rely on label information quite heavily for the finaldecision

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

619

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

To define the quality of products especially food I read everything they said on the packageto be sure that the product contains exactly what I wanted

Only reading product information could finally help me on quality judgment

I totally rely on what it is said on the label when I have to make a decision

While they generally want more information for many products the groups alsosuggested that information on food labels needs to be accurately communicated Theyrevealed many negative experiences with food labels which were not clear Sometimesthis confusion leads people to ignore the information sometimes it leads to rejection infavor of packages on which information is more effectively communicated Somerepresentative statements illustrating these views include

The nutritional information is incredibly confusing I donrsquot understand it entirely

It made me tired when I read the ingredient list

Some labels seem to be to complicated to understand thatrsquos why I donrsquot buy them

This confusion is also reported in the West where many consumers want productlabels to more effectively and more simply communicate basic product information(IGD 2003b) While most Thai respondents did not go as far as to want suchinformation presented visually they preferred to understand the displayed informationquickly without extensive interpreting

It would be great if I could see at a glance how healthy a product is from its label

This anxiety about being able to understand label information quickly seemsfrequently to come from time pressure Consumers explicitly recognize the conflictbetween being rushed and needing to carefully evaluate products Even when highlyrushed many participants still avoided ambiguity by insisting on including detailedproduct information in their decisions particularly for higher involvement foods andskincare products

Although I do not have enough time I still need to read the product information to avoidmistakes

It is important for me to read the nutritional facts and all the information on the labelEven if I am in a hurry information about food products could help me in selecting the rightchoice

No matter how short the shopping time I have I will make my decision by reading the labelIn case there is no favorite brand I really need to see what the product contains as my familymembers may be allergic to some ingredients

However for lower involvement products this is not as important as some peopleindicated

For grocery products such as snacks and drinks I seem to filter textual information when Iam hurry With these types of products I use the picture for judgment

Nevertheless it is difficult to make decisions when rushed causing dissatisfaction withproduct and store choices Participants indicated that any mechanism which could aidthem in processing information might reduce perceived time pressure and increase

BFJ1068

620

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

their satisfaction with the product They suggested that simple and accurateinformation prominently presented affects their decision positively

The label needs to clearly indicate about the ingredients and general information I use thistype of information to compare product quality

Some packages do not show exactly the instructions and components That is why sometimesI didnrsquot buy them

If the products do not show the information clearly I will definitely not buy them

TechnologyWhen asked about convenience products such as quick meal or microwave food thetwo focus groups responded differently Housewives mostly avoided such productsperceiving them to be less healthy although they occasionally bought some freshready-to-eat meals (such as from the supermarket deli) On the other hand workingwomen often purchased microwave food which they found convenient and reliableThey indicated that the food manufacturers who produced the products were wellknown and provided acceptable quality Many interviewees also felt that it wasbecoming important to pay attention to packaging materials which have an impact onconvenience as well as the product itself They are aware of materials which arecompatible with their food preparation For example

The signal of plastic type (ie microwaveable or freezable) and information for use stated onthe pack help me to make my choice (italics from discussion context not part of quote)

If I do not have enough time to prepare my meal I tend to buy a Quick Meal pack But Ialways make sure that the package is microwaveable

Most participants believed that the packaging materials were important even beyondsuch examples as convenience cooking or storage For example some intervieweescame up with the interesting issue of package technology and storage life

There are packages that could prolong food life Some foods were used in the bottle but nowthey have been modified into the stand-up pouches and some plastic sachets And it can keepthe product much longer

Some housewives indicated that snack food packages needed to be made with nontoxicmaterials as well as to be soft and harmless when kids tried to open them themselvesThey also agreed that if they were able to tear the package open easily it would bemore convenient For example some participants said that

I experienced a bag of snack food which cut my finger when I tried to open it

When I buy snack foods or sweets I prefer a plastic bag which is easy to open

In addition the respondents suggested that one of the main functions of the packagewas to dispense a proper amount of product when it was used They found manycurrent food packages convenient to use especially some special designs of sweets andmints packages

I love the way they do with those small boxes of candies It could be opened easily and givesme the right amount

The manufacturers keep creating new techniques for the sweet boxes and it is a gooddevelopment

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

621

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

On the other hand some packages such as bottles for beverage products were foundto be awkward

Every time I poured the milk too much would come out This made me so frustrated

The desire for greater convenience is no surprise and is common worldwide amongurban middle class consumers Consumer research in the UK for example regularlyshows similar thinking (IGD 2001 2002b) Among other things consumers wantpackaging technology that reduces food preparation time Simpler technology(in consumer perception not necessarily in package development or production) isalso important as are technology issues such as safety food preservation and easeof use

A research agenda for packaging developmentIt is clear that both visual and informational package elements can influence consumerchoice This is a very important food products marketing issue but research on suchpackaging issues is not very extensive Further it is likely that the way either visual orinformational elements affect choice depends on product involvement levels and timepressure We propose a number of research propositions which should be investigatedin much more detail because they can have a major impact on success or failure ofbrands in markets for packaged food products

P1 Visual elements of the package (graphics and sizeshape) influence choice ofthe product

P1a More appealing graphics will be more likely to be chosen

P1b Visually larger packages will be more likely to be chosen

P2 Informational elements of the package (product information and technology)influence choice of the product

P2a Packages with more product information are more likely to be chosen

P2b Packages with newer technology are more likely to be chosen

Product involvementInvolvement level exerts considerable influence over consumer decision processes(Beharrell and Denison 1995 McWilliam 1997 Quester and Smart 1998) Involvementand the consumption situation significantly influence the importance of paying carefulattention to product attributes Affective responses influence product attitudes morepositively in low involvement than in high involvement situations (Vakratsas andAmbler 1999) Thus visual elements of packaging are likely to influence consumersmore for low involvement On the other hand if product performance is viewed asrisky then the consumer is likely to pay more attention to the product (Grossman andWisenblit 1999 Dholakia 2001) This suggests that the cognitive information onpackaging is more effective when consumers need to explicitly evaluate and compareproducts

Much of the conceptual development of these issues has not been appliedspecifically to packaging These areas need additional research

BFJ1068

622

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

P3 Involvement level has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P3a The influence of visual package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product and weaker whenthey have high levels

P3b The influence of informational package elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have high levels of involvement with the product and weakerwhen they have low levels

P4 Relative impacts P3 implies that visual elements of packaging will have moreimpact on the purchase decision than will the informational elements whenconsumers have low levels of involvement with the product Conversely theinformational elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the visual elements when consumers have high levels ofinvolvement with the product

Time pressureEmpirical findings indicate that consumers under time pressure tend to make theirdecision when the package comes with distinctive appearance and contains simpleaccurate information Size of package is probably also indirectly related to timepressure A unique package shape may arise consumer curiosity more quickly and leadto their purchase decision Gofton (1995) suggests that as the number of single peopleincreases and the number of families and multi-person households falls behavioralchange takes place leading to less available time for more people In other words timepressure is likely to become an ever more important factor which package designersneed to address The limited data currently available suggests that

P5 Time pressure has a moderating effect on the relationships in P1 and P2

P5a The influence of visual elements on choice is stronger when consumers haveless time in which to make the product choice and weaker when they do nothave time pressure

P5b The influence of informational elements on choice is stronger whenconsumers have more time to make the product choice When they have timepressure they tend to perceive less information from the package and theinfluence of informational elements will be weaker

P6 Relative impacts P5 implies that when consumers face time pressure thevisual elements of packaging will have more impact on the purchasedecision than will the informational elements Conversely whenconsumers do not have time pressure the informational elements ofpackaging will have more impact on the purchase decision than will thevisual elements

However technology is somewhat of a special case relative to the other types ofinformational elements because packaging technology is often linked toconvenience food products and convenience has become increasingly importantfor food products (Warde 1999) Consumers who are worried about time saving

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

623

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

will pay more attention to claims of new technology because of technologyrsquosassociation with convenience

P7 New packaging technology or new technology claimed on packaging has amore positive effect on the purchase decision under time pressure thanwithout time pressure

All these propositions are shown in Figure 1

ConclusionThe results of this focus group study did support the propositions listed above Ingeneral visual elements of the package influence choice of the product to a greatextent and graphics and color are frequently the major influence Attractive packaginggenerates consumer attention by breaking through the competitive clutter Picturevividness has the most positive impact for products with lower levels of involvementHowever informational elements are becoming increasingly important and influencechoice The participants tended to judge food product performance by reading the labelif they were considering products more carefully Appropriately delivered informationon packaging generates strong impact on the consumersrsquo purchase decision Thisinformation reduces the uncertainty and creates product credibility

Clearly packaging is an important marketing tool for food products but the fourelements of packaging stimulate purchase decisions differently Consumer evaluationof packaging elements changes as the perceived risk of the consumption situationincreases and marketers need to know the importance of the various attributes to bestcommunicate through the package Visual elements graphics and sizeshape

Figure 1Conceptual model ofpackaging elements andproduct choice

BFJ1068

624

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

positively influence choice more in the low involvement situation while informationalelements tend to play a key role in higher involvement decision-making Time pressuresimilarly changes how consumers evaluate products at the point of sale partly byreducing ability to give attention to informational elements Again marketers mustcommunicate effectively through the package

Knowledge about the issues summarized in our research propositions is verynecessary for developing effective packaging which can maximize in-store consumerchoice This and the other limited research about consumer response to packaginggives package designers some guidance However much more detailed understandingis necessary and careful examination of the issues much more broadly amongconsumers is also important It is clear that package plays a very large role in productchoice and it is also clear that poor packaging can push consumers away frombuying the product Certainly better understanding of these issues in the packagingdesign process will become a key element in the competitiveness of packaged foodproducts

References

Adebanjo D (2000) ldquoIdentifying problems in forecasting consumer demand in the fastmoving consumer goods sectorrdquo Benchmarking An International Journal Vol 7 No 3pp 223-30

Asawanipont N (2003) ldquoMore Thais starting SMEsrdquo The Nation 1 November

Beharrell B and Denison TJ (1995) ldquoInvolvement in a routine food shopping contextrdquo BritishFood Journal Vol 97 No 4 pp 24-9

Blackburn R and Stokes D (2000) ldquoBreaking down the barriers using focus group to researchsmall and medium-sized enterprisesrdquo International Small Business Journal Vol 19 No 1pp 44-67

Chaudhuri A (2000) ldquoA macro analysis of the relationship of product involvement andinformation search the role of riskrdquo Journal of Marketing Theory and Practices Vol 8No 1 pp 1-15

Coulson NS (2000) ldquoAn application of the stages of change model to consumer use of foodlabelsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 102 No 9 pp 661-8

Cowley JCP (2000) ldquoStrategic qualitative focus group research ndash define and articulate ourskills or we will be replaced by othersrdquo International Journal of Market Research Vol 42No 1 pp 17-39

Dholakia MU (2001) ldquoA motivational process model of product involvement and consumerrisk perceptionrdquo European Journal of marketing Vol 35 Nos 1112 pp 1340-60

Food Standards Agency (FSA) (2003) ldquoClear labeling task force recommendations on ideal labelformatsrdquo available at wwwfoodstandardsgovukfoodlabellingresearchandreports4921(accessed November 2003)

Gofton L (1995) ldquoDollar rich and time poor Some problems in interpreting changing foodhabitsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 97 No 10 pp 11-16

Grossman RP and Wisenblit JZ (1999) ldquoWhat we know about consumersrsquo colour choicesrdquoJournal of Marketing Practice Applied Marketing Science Vol 5 No 3 pp 78-88

Hausman A (2000) ldquoA multi-method investigation of consumer motivations in impulse buyingbehaviourrdquo Journal of Consumer Marketing Vol 17 No 5 pp 403-19

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

625

Healy M and Perry C (2000) ldquoComprehensive criteria to judge validity and reliability ofqualitative research within the realism paradigmrdquo Qualitative Market Research AnInternational Journal Vol 3 No 3 pp 118-26

Herrington JD and Capella LM (1995) ldquoShopping reactions to perceived time pressurerdquoInternational Journal of Retail amp Distribution Management Vol 23 No 12 pp 13-20

Imram N (1999) ldquoThe role of visual cues in consumer perception and acceptance of a foodproductrdquo Nutrition and Food Science Vol 5 pp 224-8

Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) (2001) Winning the Mature Vote

Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) (2002a) The Single Male Shopper Are They MenBehaving Badly

Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) (2002b) Continued Demand for Convenience available atwwwigdcomanalysis (accessed November 2003)

Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) (2003a) Competition Intensifies in Thailand available atwwwigdcomanalysisnews_analysisviewArticle_fsaspmode frac14 srampat frac14 0ampid frac14 701(accessed November 2003)

Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) (2003b) Packaging Legibility Recommendations forImprovement

Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) (2003c) The Key to a Healthier Diet is Clearer FoodLabeling and Healthier Food Choices Say Consumers available at wwwigdcomanalysis(accessed November 2003)

Institute of Grocery Distribution (IGD) (2003d) Communication is Key to Improving ShoppersrsquoPerception of Retailer Brands available at wwwigdcomanalysis (accessed November2003)

Jinks AM and Daniels R (1999) ldquoWorkplace health concerns a focus group studyrdquo Journalof Management in Medicine Vol 13 No 2 pp 95-104

Jitpleecheep S (2003) ldquoSales of buffets slow those of green tea uprdquo Bangkok Post 11 November

Kotler P Ang SH Leong SM and Tan CT (1996) Marketing Management An AsianPerspective Prentice-Hall Singapore

Kupiec B and Revell B (2001) ldquoMeasuring consumer quality judgementsrdquo British Food JournalVol 103 No 1 pp 7-22

Lysonski S Durvasula S and Zotos Y (1996) ldquoConsumer decision-making styles amulti-country investigationrdquo European Journal of Marketing Vol 30 No 12 pp 10-21

McIlveen H (1994) ldquoProduct development and the consumer the reality of the managingcreativityrdquo Nutrition amp Food Science No 6 pp 26-30

McWilliam G (1997) ldquoLow involvement brands is the brand manager to blamerdquo MarketingIntelligence amp Planning Vol 15 No 2 pp 60-70

Madden JT Hewett K and Roth MS (2000) ldquoManaging images in different cultures across-national study of colour meaning and preferencesrdquo Journal of InternationalMarketing Vol 8 No 4 pp 90-107

Mitchell VW (1999) ldquoConsumer perceived risk conceptualisations and modelsrdquo EuropeanJournal of Marketing Vol 33 Nos 12 pp 163-95

Mitchell VW and Papavassiliou V (1999) ldquoMarketing causes and implications of consumerconfusionrdquo Journal of Product amp Brand Management Vol 8 No 4 pp 319-39

Nancarrow C Wright TL and Brace I (1998) ldquoGaining competitive advantage frompackaging and labeling in marketing communicationsrdquo British Food Journal Vol 100No 2 pp 110-8

BFJ1068

626

National Food Institute (NFI) (2003) Major Market Thai Food Export 2001 2002 availableat wwwnfiorthdomesticthai-food-industrythai-market02html (accessed November2003)

Palumbo F and Herbig P (2000) ldquoThe multicultural context of brand loyaltyrdquo EuropeanJournal of Innovation Management Vol 3 No 3 pp 116-24

Phuangkanok N (2001) ldquoRetailing survey supercentres now No 1rdquo The Nation

Prendergast PG and Marr NE (1997) ldquoGeneric products who buys them and how dothey perform relative to each otherrdquo European Journal of Marketing Vol 31 No 2pp 94-109

Prendergast PG and Pitt L (1996) ldquoPackaging marketing logistics and the environment arethere trade-offsrdquo International Journal of Physical Distribution amp Logistics ManagementVol 26 No 6 pp 60-72

Quester PG and Smart J (1998) ldquoThe influence of consumption situation and productinvolvement over consumersrsquo use of product attributerdquo Journal of Consumer MarketingVol 15 No 3 pp 220-38

Raghubir P and Krishna A (1999) ldquoVital dimensions in volume perception Can the eye fool thestomachrdquo Journal of Marketing Research Vol 36 No 3 pp 313-26

Rettie R and Brewer C (2000) ldquoThe verbal and visual components of package designrdquo Journalof Product amp Brand Management Vol 9 No 1 pp 56-70

Rungfapaisarn K (2001) ldquoTesco chief reshaped retail landscaperdquo The Nation

Rungfapaisarn K (2002) ldquoThai retail market second only to Chinardquo The Nation

Silayoi P Malai V Rajatanavin R and Speece M (2003) ldquoThe effects of packaging onconsumer satisfaction and loyaltyrdquo Proceedings of the Eighth International Conference onMarketing and Development Bangkok Thailand January 2003 (abstract only publishedon CD by International Society for Marketing and Development)

Smith D and Riethmuller P (2000) ldquoConsumer concerns about food safety in Australia andJapanrdquo British food journal Vol 102 No 11 pp 838-55

Speece M (1998) ldquoValue orientation among Asian middle class consumersrdquo Marketing andResearch Today (ESOMAR) Vol 27 No 4 pp 156-65

Speece M (2000) ldquoPositioning Thai brands in developed country markets consumer researchfrom Finlandrdquo Sasin Journal of Management (Thailand) Vol 6 No 1 pp 75-90

Speece M (2002) ldquoConsumer value orientation in Vietnamrsquos urban middle classrdquo Der MarktZeitschrift fur Absatzwirtschaft und Marketing 41163 (20024) pp 158-69

Speece M (2003) ldquoConsumer marketing in Asia for the new economyrdquo paper presented at theExecutive Seminar organized by JKYL (International) Pte Ltd Singapore 6 November2003 (also presented in October 2002 August 2001 October 2000)

Speece M and Luc Thi Thu Huong (2002) ldquoAttitudes of mini-supermarket shoppers in HanoiVietnam a case study in the early development of modern retailingrdquo Journal of the KoreanAcademy of Marketing Science Vol 10 No 11 pp 187-212

The Nation (2002) ldquoUnilever unfolds new business unitsrdquo 18 November 2002 available at wwwnationmultimediacompagearcviewphp3clid frac14 6ampid frac14 6934ampdate frac14 2002 (accessedNovember 2003)

The Nation (2003) ldquoInstitute to host food exhibitionrdquo 19 September 2003 available at wwwnationmultimediacompagearcviewphp3clid frac14 6ampid frac14 8582ampdate frac14 2003 (accessedNovember 2003)

Packaging andpurchasedecisions

627

UK Trade and Investment (2003) ldquoCountry profile Thailandrdquo available at wwwtradeuktradeinvestgovukthailandprofileindexintroductionshtml (accessed November2003)

Underwood RL Klein NM and Burke RR (2001) ldquoPackaging communication attentionaleffects of product imageryrdquo Journal of Product and Brand Management Vol 10 No 7pp 403-22

Vakratsas D and Ambler T (1999) ldquoHow advertising works what do we really knowrdquo Journalof Marketing Vol 63 pp 26-43

Warde A (1999) ldquoConvenience food space and timingrdquo British Food Journal Vol 101 No 7pp 518-27

BFJ1068

628