Desjardin Blog - EN

As packaging design has quickly evolved this century, it is becoming increasingly part of brand design. Just like a brand, packaging communicates messages to its target audience through various senses. That's why designers and product managers must examine how packaging is perceived by consumers. Here's a look at how tastes and packaging design need to be consistent.

Effective marketing strategies depend on shape of packaging and semantics that associate with the product. Tests have shown relationships between packaging and brand attributes, which can benefit packaging designers who base their solutions on sensory marketing. While these semantic associations are unique for each individual, this knowledge is still important for marketers to understand. Here's a deeper look at how the shape of packaging conveys meanings to consumers.

Food consumption is a multisensory experience, meaning that people judge food with all five senses, as studies increasingly show. A 2011 study called "Influence of Package Design on the Dynamics of Multisensory and Emotional Experience" by N.J. Schifferstein, Anna Fenko, Pieter M.A. Desmet, David Labbe and Nathalie Martin confirmed that people's emotions change throughout the four major stages of consumption (buying, opening, cooking and eating).

Studying the emotions and dynamics of the buyer journey can help marketers better understand packaging for chocolates, biscuits and confectionery.The various stages in which these emotions are strongest involve opening the package, cooking the food, eating it and rebuying the package. Here are ways to adapt packaging based on how people react to these stages.

When the purchase of chocolate candies and other grocery items is not part of a regular shopping list, it tends to be a spontaneous act. So marketers of such food need to understand the mechanisms that lead to impulsive purchasing.A study reported by Jesper Clement of Copenhagen Business School in Denmark shows that purchasing can be affected by five in-store stages. Here are the findings and conclusions of this eye-track experiment on consumer purchasing behaviour.

Packaging of food for children has increasingly become a marketing vehicle since it is commonly displayed at point of sale locations.

Food packaging serves multiple purposes, allowing it to be transported long distances safely and stored for long periods of time. It is important for manufacturers to balance between safety issues and other factors such as costs and keeping an eco-friendly perspective. Many consumers are paying closer attention to environmental issues that are involved with packaging technology. 

Two of the most favored materials for the packaging of chocolates, biscuits and confectionery are aluminum and tinplate. These materials are efficient and safe forms of packaging that meet international safety standards.

The three roles of packaging are communication, functionality and environment, as defined by Jesper Clement.