PREDICTING THE FUTURE OF PACKAGING BASED ON CONSUMER BEHAVIOR

The packaging industry has a long history, and for decades, product packaging design companies have been mapping consumer behavior to make packaging decisions. The industry has seen a steady growth over the years and in 2019, the Indian packaging industry was valued at $50.5 billion. At the present, virtually every industry, business, and marketer is concerned about packaging. From technological devices to drugs, cosmetics, apparel, and accessories, every product is packaged with care keeping in mind the consumers’ expectations. Indeed, packaging has become an integral part of branding and brand identity and packaging design companies in India and around the globe are investing in understanding the factors influencing consumer behavior.

How Consumer Behaviour Impacts Packaging

Consumer behavior and expectation are an important part of the packaging. As mentioned before, packaging decisions — for the most part — are based on consumer needs. The pandemic, for instance, triggered a trend to sanitize every package at various stages from boxing to delivery. The green revolution triggered the reduction of plastic packaging material. Other instances of consumer behavior influencing packaging decisions include the trend offer free gift-wrapping services and unique festival packaging trends such as the Cadbury Diwali Hamper. With the fitness, the wave came, consciousness about the nutritive value of packaged food. This triggered transparency in revealing the ingredients and marking products as gluten-free, lactose-free, or sugar-free. Coca-Cola came up with its version of diet coke in a new package making it easily recognizable for diet-conscious users. Some brands even use different packaging in different locations — for instance, Red Bull is recognized worldwide by its red inscription on a silver tin. In China, however, the inscription is red bulls and black writing over a golden can. The product itself is also differentiated — a non-carbonated version — in China vis-à-vis the rest of the world. The reason — well, the Chinese prefer their drinks non-carbonated and the different packaging makes it easily identifiable. The digital review trend also brought about a major change in packaging and design. As YouTubers began reviewing products and “unboxing” became the new fad for video content, manufacturers began improving on package design to make it more attractive and appealing. The UK-based MarshMallowist for instance added custom-designed tissues to their packaging, simply to add a unique flair and experience to the unboxing experience. Examples of consumer-driven packaging decisions are many — and one might well say that the packaging industry is driven by consumer behavior.

The Future of Packaging

As far as factors influencing consumer behavior go, these may be social, cultural, economic, or personal — such as age, gender, and so on. The pandemic is a classic example of the personal factor — where everyone was concerned about their health and that of their loved ones.

The pandemic has brought about significant changes in consumer behavior. McKinsey describes three major emerging trends that product packaging design companies around the world are adopting -

• Design for Hygiene
• Design for e-commerce
• Designed with a good sustainability narrative

Design for hygiene

As people become more hygiene conscious and cautious about package handling during 2020, brands are taking steps to reassure their consumers with different packaging. Some of the ways in which the hygiene wave, driven by the pandemic, changed packaging include –

- Use of Invisishield — a pathogenic agent — on fresh food

- Skin4Can — a recyclable polymer coating — on beverage cans

- Concealed inner hygienic packaging for baked products

- BYOC (Bring Your Own Cup) initiative by Starbucks

Designed for e-commerce:

The last decade has seen a surge in e-commerce with not only brands but also start-ups and entrepreneurs setting up their e-stores. The millennial consumer reviews products online — and often buys online too. The pandemic gave e-commerce an additional boost as people preferred to have products delivered rather than visit stores. This has driven brands and multi-facility e-commerce sites like Amazon and Flipkart to reconsider their packaging decisions. Amazon for instance scrapped single-use plastic packaging encouraging their distribution and delivery partners to use paper and cardboard packaging instead. The box not only identifies the store but is also reassuring for the customer besides being cost-effective and reducing the carbon footprint.

Design with good sustainability narrative

Sustainability is an increasing concern in recent times. From the green revolution to carbon footprint and the pandemic, consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the need for sustainability. This has affected all industries and sectors including packaging. Reducing waste in packaging, and making it cost-effective without compromising presentation has become an important element in packaging decisions. The new challenge before the industry is to make packages simple, cost-effective, secure, appealing, sustainable, and above all hygienic.

Round the bend is packaging material that is not only sanitized and hygienic but proactively rid the package of a virus, bacteria, and the like. Other futurist trends include vanishing (read dissolving) package covers and cases that can be used as power sources. Says PackagingEurope, the packaging industry is poised to reinvent itself over the next decade.

Litmus Branding is a branding company in India. We bring you cutting-edge branding strategies and news from the world of branding and marketing. Stay tuned and connect with us for the latest from packaging design companies in India.