How Packaging Design Influences Buying Behaviour

How often does it happen that you are looking for a particular product at the supermarket and you go around the aisle a number of times only failing to find that product? 

A few days back, I visited a supermarket and was looking for my favourite brand of crisps. I walked around the dedicated aisle twice but couldn’t find them so I requested an assistant to help me with it. When we started walking towards the dedicated shelf of crisps and cookies, I wondered how these hundreds of products on the shelves fight with each other for our attention and what actually persuades us to choose one brand over the other. In that brief moment, I thought about the different elements of packaging - colour, typography, visuals and format that affect our buying habits and coming back to reality only to find out that the assistant was nowhere to be seen. Assuming he never found the crisps, I disappointedly started looking for a similar flavour and surprisingly, found my favourite pack of crisps at the corner of the shelf and thought how difficult it was to find something I actually wanted. 

Today, we face an ever increasing number of options available to choose from. A regular supermarket has over 30,000 products, all competing with each other for our attention. In most cases, a brand gets roughly 30 – 45 minutes of a shopping session to attract, excite, and sell their products, proving to the fact that product packaging is considered to be the decisive point of communication in any retail environment. 

It has been estimated that around 60-70% of buying decisions are made in the store. Packaging is considered as the final opportunity for marketers to communicate their brand’s message. Packaging plays a crucial role as it has been proven that 1/3rd of our decision making is based on how the product finally looks. It has a direct impact on how your consumer perceives the product.

Most of the times a consumer leaves home with a definite purpose in mind, but no loyalty towards a brand. The final choice depends on variety of factors. Some consumers go for household brands, some do an extensive research, while the rest of them (which forms the majority) buy on impulse. These decisions are often influenced by knowledge and reputation of a brand, consumer personality, but most importantly having a good and attractive package design that would intrigue and encourage the consumer to try the product.

We are all still guilty of instantly judging a book by its cover but still there’s no way around it.

A product only appeals to us when it looks attractive.
Such is the power of Packaging!

Read more here: 5 Golden Rules of Packaging Design

Article contributed by:

Riya Wadhwa, Brand Artisan - Marketing

4 Important Elements of Packaging Design

Packaging is known to be the identity of a product. It is extremely important for your product to get noticed amongst the hundreds of other products available on the shelf. Packaging is an integral part of any Branding Strategy to glamorise a product in a way that would not only catch the consumer’s attention, but also would be a great source of advertising. Packaging plays an important role educating the customer about the product; it’s also like having a direct interaction with the brand. As said by Martin Neumier “A retail package is the last and best chance to make a sale.”

The four main elements of packaging are Colours, Visuals, Typography and Format. These elements help the consumers to relate to the brand easily and tend to have a high recall.

Colours have great psychological impact and can draw attention to your product. In order to stand out, brands often choose colours that do not belong to their brand colour palette. This disruptive behaviour is good, but may not always work in favour of the brands. Colours are known to be the most important part of packaging because they subconsciously reflect the personality of a brand; also it is the first thing to be noticed and can be visible at a distance as well.

Visuals & Mascots help in associating with the brand and create high recall value. Visuals are graphical representations of the product inside, where one can easily understand what the product is without having to read.Mascots on the other hand are an additional element that may in some cases strengthen the identity of the brand. A mascot is easily relatable by every age group. Brands like Amul still extensively use’s their mascot named Amul girl for all their communication and branding. This over the years has become a part of their identity and is now very relatable by the consumers. Another Indian brand using a mascot is Air India using their mascot named Maharaja, for their communications.

Typography is another powerful part of Brand Identity. Just like colours have meaning; typography represents the values of your brand.  Every typeface has a different set of connotations and hence will create a unique representation of who you are and what you stand for, as a brand. Brands often use bold fonts and serifs to catch attention, as they’re clean, simple, and easily readable. As mentioned, fonts also have a different meaning. The font used for the IBM logo demonstrates power, while Coco-cola and Disney cue fun.

The format of Packaging is designed in such a way that it attracts the attention of the consumer and can be easily spotted on the shelf. Format of packages largely depend on the products, keeping in mind the requirements and convenience of a consumer. For instance, products like shampoos, oils, ketchup, etc come in various sizes as well as in sachets which encourage the consumer to try them.

Read more here: 5 Golden Rules of Packaging Design

Article contributed by:

Riya Wadhwa, Brand Artisan - Marketing

Typography: Classification & Uses

Typography is the study of typefaces, and the manner in which the type is laid out, to best achieve the desired visual effect and to convey the meaning most effectively. Typography is a lot more than selecting a few fonts and using them in Design. It is important to understand the meaning behind each category of typeface and which typeface is right for the Brand. Think of a famous Logo. Okay, ready? Try and visualise that Logo in a different typeface. It will elicit completely different feelings. Thus, typography plays a very important role in developing strong Brand Identity.

Using Bold, Italic and Underline formatting tools are great to communicate effectively. But, they should be used selectively. Bold is used to highlight a word / point, all CAPITAL letters to convey domination or authority, and italics to give background information. These are basic and minuscule points, but very important for good typography.

Right typeface can convey intended Emotions, as it makes the Brand appear Authoritative, Serious or Fun - in line with the Brand Personality. An essential part of understanding typography is to start with type categories.

Typefaces can be classified in 5 Broad Categories –

1) Serif 2) Slab Serif 3) Sans Serif 4) Script & 5) Novelty

1) Serif: Serif typefaces are those that have distinctive “Accent / feet”. They are identified as serifs because of small terminals that protrude out from the edges of letters. Serifs are very easy to read and book publishers love this category of typeface. They create a subtle visual connection between the letters and have excellent readability even in small sizes. They are great for long paragraphs. Key Characteristics: Authoritative & prestige. Famous fonts in this category: Times New Roman, Bodoni & Baskerville.

2) Slab Serif: Slab serif are a sub-set of serif typeface. They are identified by thick, block-style feet that jut out from the letters. Because of their bold rendition, this category of typeface is most commonly used in headlines but are rarely used in body copy. Key Characteristics: Strength & Boldness. Famous fonts in this category: Rockwell, Courier & Museo Slab.

3) Sans Serif: Sans Serif can be easily identified as Sans-Serif by the conspicuous absence of the feet (sans means without). Sans Serifs are clean, well-spaced out and geometric, making them easy to read in large or small sizes. Sans serifs are very popular for headlines, bold statements and body copy. Key Characteristics: Approachable & to the point. Famous fonts in this category: Helvetica, Myriad Pro & Futura.

4) Script: Script typefaces resemble handwriting. They look amazing for logos & small headlines. The finesse and style reflected by this category of typefaces make the Brand appear elegant, while also connoting handmade or hand crafted nature of the Brand. Key Characteristics: Pally, personalised & casual. Famous fonts in this category: Zapfino, Brush Script & Pacifico.

5) Novelty: Novelty fonts are every other typeface whose characteristics do not fit into any of the categories above. They are used mainly for decorative purposes and create a definitive mood based on the look of characters. Avoid using novelty typefaces for large paragraphs of text. Key Characteristics: Fun & non-serious. Famous fonts in this category: Heartbreaker, Grinched & Ice Age.