If you think product packaging is not important, you are wrong. The folding box in particular has a stronger influence on the purchase decision than many marketing measures.

A customer enters the supermarket. He sees the packaged product on the shelf. The packaging entices with a "buy me". And then: Access! Every package decides weal and woe, buy or leave. This makes it one of the most important communication channels in marketing and can arouse direct buying impulses. And the success story continues. This is because the product in the packaging is also regularly picked up at home, thus contributing to brand loyalty time and again.

As part of a study on the packaging effect, the European industry association Pro Carton, the Folding Carton Industry Association (FFI) and the consultancy Pointlogic examined 23 communication channels. They wanted to find out which channels have the greatest influence on consumer purchasing behavior for everyday goods. The surprising result: packaging is among the most effective of all the media compared. Packaging therefore contributes just as strongly - or even more strongly - to the impulse to buy as the recommendation of a salesperson, the search via Google, and the company's website with its product information.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The reason for this is that most purchasing decisions are only made in the store, where the packaging is particularly effective. More than one-third of respondents said that packaging was helpful in making in-store decisions. Among impulse shoppers, as many as 39 percent take their cue from the box. It is also particularly interesting that Internet sellers also want to see the packaging before they buy - and when they unpack the product at home. At home, each package is picked up an average of 10 times. Thus, the also unfolds there a high marketing potential. This, in turn, has repercussions on the next purchase and explains the strong impact of packaging on the next purchase decision. Here, it is undisputedly ahead of TV and billboard advertising.

Packaging therefore makes a massive contribution to the purchase decision. Dr. Michael Faller, member of the FFI Board of Directors and Chairman of the FFI Marketing Group, explains: "Consumers assign packaging an outstanding role compared to classic media. This should encourage product managers to consider packaging even more intensively in the communications mix."

There are even reports of double-digit sales growth following a packaging relaunch. "Money spent on packaging thus represents a high value-added investment in the brand and in communication with the customer," emphasizes Professor Hans Georg Stolz, who is also Chairman of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Media-Analyse (Agma). The investment is therefore worthwhile.