Shoppers: Green packaging is a purchase tiebreaker
- Filed in:
- Corporate strategy,
- Green marketing
Brand marketers are focusing a lot of attention on environmentally friendly packaging systems, but in shoppers' eyes, environmental considerations generally are secondary to overall package appearance and functional concerns.
Environmental claims about packaging are a tiebreaker for most shoppers when they decide which product to buy, influencing consumer purchase decisions only if quality appearance and functional needs also are met.
Conversely, packaging that looks "cheap" or isn't perceived to adequately protect the product is a deal-breaker for shoppers—and no other marketing claims, including those made about the package's environmental impact, matter.
These findings result from extensive research conducted over the past two years by Perception Research Services (PRS) to gauge shoppers' perceptions of environmentally friendly packaging. The results were consistently reinforced in numerous subsequent custom studies that PRS conducted on behalf of multiple consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies.
Just as important, these studies also uncovered significant confusion regarding environmental claims about packaging. And, some shoppers might be willing to pay a premium for packaging that is good for the earth, but shoppers on the whole appear to believe that product manufacturers primarily should bear the higher costs for environmentally friendly packaging.
The research that summarized shopper perspectives about environmentally friendly packaging began with an initial study consisting of 500 in-person interviews with primary grocery shoppers at 16 locations across the United States. The first component of the study sought to determine how well shoppers understand the term "sustainable packaging." When asked directly, only 11% of shoppers agreed with the statement "I have heard the term and know what it means." Upon being probed further, nearly half of these shoppers mistakenly believed sustainable packaging meant durable packaging.
Clearly, the majority of shoppers do not fully comprehend the "sustainable" terminology. It is a packaging industry term rather than shopper language.
Read more about the research on consumer perceptions and environmentally friendly packaging.
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Scott,
This is some valuable and current research. Thank you for sharing the results and insights.
I have a few questions about the study. During the in-person interviews, how were the shoppers made aware of the environmentally-friendly packaging? Confusion about this was mentioned but, did a package have claims or icons such as a recyclable logo? Also, were they surveyed on what specific materials they perceive to be more sustainable?
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