Consumer Purchasing Based on Packaging Structural Design/Product Visual Display in a Retail Environnent

Pham, Thackston, Galvarino, Ouzts

What is packaging structural design? Two primary functions to address when

designing a package: Graphical component Structural

Graphics are marketing vehicle Structure used for protection and attracting

consumers To increase their consumer base companies

have created techniques to use structural design to attract customers

Structural design has become a dual purpose procedure

Insight on how it impacts consumer buying behavior becomes more valuable every day

Background Amount of packaging used is largely

influenced by the cost of materials and manufacturing efficiency

Environmental trends create a need for package minimization

Development of new packaging can be expensive but it offers extraordinary potential for long range benefits

Pack Expo 2011 – Las Vegas! PACK EXPO is an annual

packaging conference Held in Las Vegas and Chicago

alternates each year 25,000 attendees 1,633 vendors/exhibitors CUshop™ located in The

Sonoco Institute was shipped to Las Vegas and set up in a 3,600 sq. ft. booth PMMI, Kodak, and Harris A.

Smith sponsored the event

CUshop™ Consumer Experience Laboratory

Consumer research lab that implements eye tracking technology to record consumers’ visual behaviors

Simulated immersive retail environment Authentic shelving and products are

placed throughout the store

Methodology: Stimulus

Four distinct packaging structures designed and constructed specifically for the study

Fully

Enc

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d

Mos

tly E

nclo

sed

Mos

tly E

xpos

ed

Fully

Exp

osed

Methodology: Procedure Tobii mobile eye-tracking

glasses were calibrated for the participant before each trial

Subject was given shopping list which indicated a specific item to shop for: Fork Tongs Spatula

Data output for each metric was recorded and compiled for further statistical analysis

Metrics included time to first fixation, total fixation duration, and fixation count

Methodology: Procedure

Methodology: Experimental Design

Each row consisted of only one product with all four packaging styles

Displayed on rows (from left to right) by least amount of packaging to most

Latin square was then permuted every two hours by placing the bottom row to the top row and shifting the top and middle rows down one row

Each participant in the study performed only one trial

Results: Product Selection

Participants chose “Fully Exposed”!

Results Data was exported from

Tobii Studio and statistically analyzed using Microsoft Excel

Metrics for analysis included time to first fixation, total fixation duration, and fixation count per specified AOA

An aggregate heat map of all participants’ fixations shows generally that fully enclosed packages received less attention than the other styles (1 dot = 4 count)

Results: Time to First Fixation Two-factor repeated-

measures ANOVA on time to first fixation (TTFF) revealed strong significance in package type (F(3,270)=24.92, p < 0.01).

Pair-wise T-tests were then done based on p-values and all types of packages

Results: Average Fixation Count Two-factor repeated-

measures ANOVA on average fixation count (AFC) revealed a strong significance in package type (F(3,270)=11.93, p < 0.01)

Pair-wise T-tests were then done based on p-values and all types of packages

Results: Average Total Fixation Duration Two-factor repeated-

measures ANOVA on total fixation duration (TFD) revealed a strong significance in package type (F(3,270)=9.97, p < 0.01)

Pair-wise T-tests were then done based on p-values and all types of packages

Discussion Mostly exposed package style

Significantly faster time to first fixation average White background influence?

Fully enclosed package style Significantly slower time to first fixation Significantly lower total fixation duration Significantly lower fixation count Participants want to see some product!

The data clearly shows that the fully enclosed package style was fixated on significantly less than the other three package styles

Discussion

A random participant’s scan path shows the fully enclosed packages were not fixated on as much

Participants generally preferred package styles with at least some product exposure, as there is no significant difference between the other three styles for total fixation duration or average fixation count

Conclusions

Significant amount of participants ultimately preferred the fully exposed package style

Results concurs with our hypothesis and back our assumption that people generally like to see as much of a product as possible before purchasing

Maximum product exposure ensures the consumer will get exactly what he/she sees

Since pricing was constant for each package style, a consumer also may have opted for the fully exposed package because it was more sustainable (less material to be discarded)

Future Plans?

• More research should be done on other types of retail products

• Analyze output for isolated demographics and compare to others using survey data collected

Special Thanks To

• PMMI• Kodak• Harris A. Smith• Andrew Ouzts

References