Appealing packing can arouse a consumer’s desire to buy and lead to impulsive purchasing
Attractive packaging can trigger positive emotions in consumers and increase sales, according to research.
Globally, brands are increasingly wrapping their products more appealingly, especially during the festive season.
MINI Group, a Kenyan bakery, packages its Supa Loaf product in bags inscribed with holiday messages during the Christmas holidays. This is a sure way to catch the customer’s eye, a move that can attract new clients.
“Packaging plays an important role in influencing purchasing because it can elicit a positive reaction from consumers browsing through a wide variety of products.
“It makes products stand out on the shelves from the competition’s,” said Stella Kimani, a brand strategist.
“Packaging is also important in establishing customer loyalty as it can lead to repeat purchases and referrals via word of mouth and online platforms, increasing brand visibility at the same time.”
In addition, attractive packaging can lead to impulsive buying as it can trigger an unconscious response and arouse a consumer’s desire to buy a product.
According to research by Zeppelin University, University of Vienna, and University of St Gallen, appealing product packaging can lead to impulsive buying. The researchers measured the neural responses of participants with different impulsive buying tendencies.
“We found that attractive packages evoked more intensive activity changes in brain regions associated with an impulsive system.
“Attractive packages activated regions associated with reward, whereas unattractive packages activated regions associated with negative emotions,” reported the researchers.
“The results suggest that there is indeed a corresponding relationship between stronger impulsive buying tendencies and activity in brain areas associated with impulsive and reflective processes.
“Consumers are more likely to choose products that have an attractive appeal than they are to select similar but less visually appealing products,” they concluded.
Brands can choose to incorporate different attractive packaging in a bid to evoke “the buy emotion” in consumers, a factor that could contribute to increased sales.
An example of a company that used this strategy successfully — winning new customers and increasing its sales — is tissue maker Kleenex. In 2010, Kleenex introduced its products in an A-frame packaging that resembled watermelon, orange and lime wedges; fruits associated with sunny weather.
The firm rolled out the products in a US store and after receiving positive reactions from consumers distributed them further afield.
This led to an increase in sales, according to a case study by US product packaging company Grimes Packaging.
“Kleenex sales typically go up 60 per cent during the cold and flu season, but the brand experienced close to 100 per cent rise in sales due to its summer packaging design. “Their warm weather watermelon box brought in a whole new summer customer base,” reported Grimes Packaging.
Lesson: Kenyan brands seeking to stand out from the competition, increase sales and win new customers should opt for attractive packaging.
- African Laughter
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