Consumers Prefer Products With These Packages, Recent Data Shows

"Never judge a book by its cover," we've all heard it said. While the adage is absolutely true in terms of not taking appearances for granted and not undervaluing things and people based on how they seem on the outside, we still make judgments based solely on looks. It's simply what we're wired to do...second it's nature to us.

According to a research by the Paper and Package Board, 72 percent of customers say the packaging design of a product influences their purchase choice.

As a marketer, you may use assumptions to assist your brand's goods appeal to customers by designing product packaging that tempt people to try them.

According to recent studies, these are some of the most important variables that buyers examine when buying a product for the first time or repeating a purchase.

The element of comfort

One of the most essential elements that customers examine when deciding whether or not to make a repeat purchase is the product's packaging functional accessibility. In other words, how simple it was for the customer to remove the packing and get to the product they wanted.

When customers are frustrated when opening a box, they are less likely to buy that goods again.

In fact, according to statistics reported by Businesswire from a recent study performed by renowned sustainable packaging expert DS Smith, over 20% of customers would not buy a product from the same brand or firm again if the packaging of a product from that brand was difficult to open.

It's critical for companies to make it as simple as possible for customers to open the present that is their product. That involves connecting with consumers about their packaging experiences and working closely with the brand's quality control team to ensure that customer happiness and safety are prioritized throughout the production process.

The distinguishing design feature

Presentation is important in almost every aspect of our life. The way you are seen by others may influence whether or not you are accepted into a good school, recruited for a job, accepted to reside in a given area, or even permitted into a restaurant.

With that in mind, it's in our best interests to look as normal as possible in our personal life to the general public.

And, although seeming normal is beneficial to us in our daily lives. When it comes to branding, it has the opposite impact. If the aim is for a company to stand out from rivals, being viewed as an ordinary brand won't cut it.

That is to say, in order to appeal to customers, the brand must be different. A excellent approach for a company to show difference is to package its goods in such a manner that they stand out from all of the other brands in their category, eliciting immediate interest from the customer as soon as they see them.

This also facilitates the product's attainment of the desired word-of-mouth marketing that all marketing managers strive for.

That's because, as social creatures, we're naturally driven to share new things that we think are "cool" with others because we unconsciously assume that it offers us social currency since, after all, if we found this wonderful item, it must indicate that we're cool too...right?

"The most important aspect of remarkable things is that they are worthy of remark, worthy of mention," author and marketing professor Jonah Berger said in his book Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Remarkable things generate social value because they make those who speak about them seem, well...remarkable."

Products that arrive in exceptional packaging are more likely to be shared with others when they are found, since individuals want others to think of them as extraordinary. In fact, according to a study conducted by Dotcom Distribution, 40% of customers upload photographs of items with distinctive packaging on social media.

Making containers that are different colors or forms from those of rivals is a simple approach to differentiate product packaging. The package for Trojan's Magnum condoms is a wonderful illustration of this. The gold condom wrappers were so distinctive at first that people had to speak about them (as well as the other reason that made them different from the other condoms on store shelves).

So, in a world of bagged potato chips, be more like Pringles and package your chips in tubes.

The environmental factor

Today's consumers are more ecologically sensitive than ever before. And that awareness often extends to how customers make purchase choices nowadays. According to a recent poll performed by Trivium Packaging in collaboration with Boston Consulting Group, 54 percent of respondents said they consider sustainable packaging when choosing a product.

The market has spoken, and it says that customers want environmentally friendly product packaging, even if it costs more money. In fact, according to the same poll, 83 percent of customers under the age of 45 are ready to spend extra for a product that comes in environmentally friendly packaging.

As a result, since customers prefer "green" packaging, firms who create items in non-eco-friendly packaging are at a distinct disadvantage versus those that do. Worse, such items are harmful to the environment, which is plainly undesirable.

As the globe becomes more ecologically mindful of climate change, firms that offer items in environmentally friendly packaging will become the only alternative for environmentally conscientious customers. Brands that don't follow suit will become obsolete.

Thanks to DeJuan Wright at Business 2 Community whose reporting provided the original basis for this story.