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The purpose of this paper is to examine perfume packaging in Spain and its effects on Basque female consumers’ purchase decision. The study population was made up of females, as they represent the highest consumer in the perfume market, accounting for 67 percent of the total perfume sales (Trufragance.com). Furthermore, in the past few years the perfume industry has basically targeted females (McIntyre, 2013).

An empirical study was conducted using a questionnaire to collect primary data in order to test the hypotheses. The questionnaire was distributed to 400 randomly selected respondents, from the general female population.

The findings show a relationship between the independent variables (i.e. visual packaging design, verbal packaging design, and packaging benefits) and the dependent variable (i.e. consumer purchase decision) based on several reasons discussed thoroughly in this paper. Additionally, age, education level, marital status, monthly income, and employment category of sample subjects influence the effect of perfume packaging on purchase decisions.

The main limitation of this study is the use of simple random sampling. The research findings bear important implications for more functional, emotional, environmental, and socially responsible marketing practice where packaging is concerned.

The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of packaging as a strategic marketing tool and how it can significantly influence the female’s purchase decision. Thus, giving managers and marketers a competitive advantage in this increasingly growing market. A new concept and measurement scale is presented that can be used for identifying creative packaging design and its benefits.

This study remains one of few research works focusing on the four dimensions of packaging benefits: functional, social, emotional, and environmental. Furthermore, it attempts to fulfill the identified need for encompassing potential and generally accepted packaging elements, including both the visual and verbal elements. Therefore, the uniqueness of this study arises from its examination of both aspects simultaneously, which has been ignored in previous research.

This article provides a theoretical framework for understanding the communicative effects of product imagery on attention to the brand, specifically, the attentional effects of incorporating a picture or illustration of the product on the packaging of the product. Empirical results from a virtual reality simulation show that package pictures increase shoppers’ attention to the brand. However this effect is contingent, occurring only for low familiarity brands (private‐label brands) within product categories that offer a relatively high level of experiential benefits. These results suggest that package pictures may be especially useful for private label brands and/or lesser tier national brands whose strategic objectives are to improve consumers’ perceptions of the brand and enter the consideration set.

This study aims to investigate the antecedents and consequences of green packaging behavior (GPB). A conceptual model has been developed wherein green packaging awareness (GPA) and green packaging initiatives (GPI) are precursors of GPB, and environmental concern and availability of various green packaging alternatives are moderators. The outcomes of GPB in terms of environmental and personal benefits are examined.

Unlike most papers focusing on green packaging from a marketing perspective, this study explores the behavior of rural households from 47 villages in southern India. A carefully crafted survey instrument was developed, and data were collected from 395 respondents. After checking the instrument’s psychometric properties, the results were analyzed using Hayes’s PROCESS macros.

The results indicate that GPA and GPI are positively associated with GPB, GPA predicts GPI, and GPI mediates the relationship between GPA and GPB. Furthermore, findings suggest that environmental concern moderates the relationship between GPI and GPB, and the three-way interaction between the availability of green packaging (second moderator), environmental concern (first moderator), and GPI influences the GPB. Moreover, the outcomes of GPB in terms of environmental and personal benefits are established.

This research has several theoretical implications. It documents that individual awareness of green packaging is a precursor to GPB. This study focused on the rural population from a developing country (India) and hence may suffer from a lack of generalizability across developed nations. However, the results could be generalizable across other developing nations worldwide.

This study motivates individuals to engage in proenvironmental behavior. Moreover, it highlights the importance of GPB in deriving environmental and personal benefits. It is also equally crucial for individuals to engage in proper waste management practices so that the environment is not polluted.

The findings from this research are helpful to society as it focuses on the proenvironmental behavior of individuals. Particularly concerning packaging, this study points out that buying products with green packaging and reusing and recycling such packages is essential to protect the environment.

This study fills the gaps in the literature by focusing on the GPB of the rural population. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the moderated-mediation model developed and tested in this research is the first of its kind and thus makes a significant contribution to the literature on green packaging and waste management.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the influence of eco-designed packaging on consumers’ responses. It defines the concept of eco-designed packaging, and proposes a consumer-led taxonomy of its cues. Attitudinal and behavioral, positive and negative responses triggered by the perception of these signals are analyzed.

Results were reached through qualitative methods. A phenomenological approach consisting of eight in-depth interviews has been followed by a series of ten Zaltman Metaphor Elicitation Technique (ZMET) interviews. The synergy of these two methods is underlined.

The complexity of packaging ecological cues perception is outlined by expressing the differences in the nature of these cues. A taxonomy is then presented; ecological cues fall into three categories: structural cues, graphical/iconic cues and informational cues. Finally, consumers’ responses to the perception of eco-designed packaging are presented and perceived benefits and perceived sacrifices are revealed.

Packaging is of great importance in consumers’ purchase decision process, especially in situations of temporal pressure and hyperchoice environments. Since consumers take more and more into account the ethicality of the brand in their consumption, the understanding of their attitudes and behaviors toward eco-designed packaging may enable brands to build a competitive advantage.

The literature review reveals that there is no similar research available. The use of two qualitative methods enables to understand consumers’ deep-seated motivations, attitudes and behaviors toward eco-designed packaging. The results of this study can also be used by advertisers, for social marketing campaigns, to encourage consumers to reduce the global ecological footprint of packaging.

The purpose of this paper is to explore consumer views on different aspects of packaging, exemplified by a common product in the fruit and vegetable category and to identify advantages and disadvantages perceived by consumers purchasing packaged or unpackaged products.

Three focus group interviews were conducted. Thematic analysis based on theory was performed. The findings were categorised into nine themes.

Consumer views on packaging aspects were revealed, covering: packaging material; pack size; protection and preservation; convenience; price; communication and information; ethical perspectives; novelty and innovation; and advantages and disadvantages of packaged and unpackaged products.

The study adds to present knowledge on the role of packaging in consumers’ food choices. The qualitative analysis identified areas for further research through quantitative methods.

Challenges in communicating the consumer benefits of packaging and ways to improve the attractiveness of items in the fresh produce category were identified. The results can potentially assist in improving food packaging design practice to the mutual benefit of consumers and suppliers.

Fruit and vegetables is generally a category with weak branding and low levels of packaging. This study examined the role of packaging in a category with substantial opportunities for differentiation and increasing consumer value. The results can be applied in immediate practice and/or serve as a basis for further research.

This chapter explores the potential economic advantages and disadvantages of reusable plastic containers (RPCs) in the transport of fresh produce from growers to retail stores. The empirical research linking packaging to quantifiable economic and social benefits is reviewed. This study answers the question – what are the economic and social impacts of increased standardization of bulk packaging in the North American fresh produce supply chains? Implications for the potential use of RPCs and its impact on sustainability are explored.

The chapter describes data from grocery retailers who have implemented both one-way and reusable plastic containers for fresh produce distribution. A Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TD-ABC) analysis was conducted to capture and evaluate process times and product damage associated with the typical deployment of bulk containers in the grocery retailers’ distribution centers (DC), retail stores, and asset recovery centers of the supply chain. Economic measures were implemented and together with the social dimensions provided insights about sustainability-based implications.

Fresh produce shipments using the RPC technology had significantly less waste and damage representing potential social and economic benefits. The empirical findings included results about the economic impact of RPCs on the sustainability level of a typical supply chain for fresh food products.

The quantification of the economic and potential social sustainability for the explored packaging types constitutes an important contribution. Much of the previous research did not contain comprehensive assessments. The impact of technological change – the introduction and use of RPC in packaging – is examined. In addition, the supply chain scope for this research included most of the major activities that involve the packaging of fresh produce commodities in its practical dynamics.

This paper presents a comprehensive overview of the cross-disciplinary literature on the drivers, barriers and performance outcomes of sustainable packaging to understand the current state of research in this field and identify research opportunities.

A systematic review is conducted within no time limit. The Methodi Ordinatio methodology was applied that resulted in retaining 48 relevant and high impact articles published in 26 academic journals with various scopes.

Seven key drivers are identified and defined: the integrative and collaborative supply chain, environmental capabilities and resources, market-based instruments, cost reduction, consumer pressure, competitive advantage, and regulatory pressure. Three main barriers are identified and defined: cost/benefit ambiguity, additional costs and complex trade-offs between packaging requirements. The review shows that the drivers and barriers to packaging sustainability are contingent on the firm size. Sustainable packaging positively affects the environmental, social and economic performance; however, its operational performance requires a proactive and integrated supply chain. The results highlight the importance of integrated packaging decisions at three different levels to improve packaging sustainability: vertical and horizontal integration, upstream and downstream integration, and product-packaging integration. The authors developed research propositions and provided insightful directions for future research.

Most studies focus on specific drivers, barriers and outcomes of sustainable packaging, while this paper brings them together to build a comprehensive framework. The latter provides a deeper understanding of the factors that incentivize or deter firms from pursuing sustainable packaging and its performance outcomes.

The purpose of this paper is to show that consumer education in the form of information can effectively overcome adoption barriers to new and innovative wine packaging. This effectiveness depends on both the degree in packaging innovation and the level of consumer involvement.

The paper is based on an online experiment conducted with a sample of 427 German consumers to analyse the perception of consumers about innovative packaging. The experiment featured three different packaging options: bottles with screw-cap closures, bag-in-box and StackTek®. For each packaging form, a treatment group with additional information about the packaging and a reference group without this information were surveyed. ANOVA and t-tests were carried out to test the hypotheses. A moderated regression analysis was used to examine the effect of involvement in combination with information on intention to buy.

The results revealed that low-involvement consumers react positively to additional information about the benefits of a new packaging. For highly involved consumers, however, the effect of information is not significant. Furthermore, the analysis showed that low-involvement consumers mainly buy wine in supermarkets.

Information about new packaging forms should be presented in places where low-involvement consumers buy wine, such as at supermarkets. These consumers can be influenced by the additional information about the innovative packaging.

The use of a moderated regression analysis in the context of wine packaging and involvement is a first and reveals new and valuable insights.

Purpose: Ocean plastic pollution has increased scrutiny towards businesses that produce plastic packaging. The article presents the perspective of businesses alongside those of consumers concerning packaging sustainability, as these two areas are fundamentally related.

Method: A mixed-methods approach consisted of an interview with a plastic packaging design manager, an action research group of packaging industry professionals and a survey (of 1000 UK consumers) and focus groups to investigate similar issues from a consumer perspective.

Findings: The business research showed that they feel frustrated by emotional arguments against plastic that push towards alternative packaging formats that have greater negative environmental impacts. They also highlighted problems of inconsistent recycling infrastructure and the need to communicate the benefits of packaging more effectively to consumers. The consumer research identified high levels of awareness of ocean plastic pollution but a lower understanding of the properties of different packaging materials. Many do not yet look for the most sustainable packaging when shopping and feel that retailers must take more responsibility for reducing environmental degradation from the packaging.

Originality/Value: The study provides a new perspective on packaging sustainability issues by combining the views of industry and consumers. In doing so, it acknowledges the different human influences on environmental outcomes. A realist conceptual model highlights the potential mechanisms triggered within different contexts. While the research is just a snapshot of views on selected topics, it conceptualises various components of the relationship between businesses and consumers to identify different aspects of the problem for further research.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how a web‐based virtual ideation tool, dialogr.com, can be used to capture insights from consumers and to gain an understanding of consumer satisfaction with package design during and after product use. The authors also demonstrate how the resulting rich qualitative data can be combined with output from traditional survey research, to provide insight into the impact of satisfaction with package design on purchase intent.

A mixed‐methods approach was employed that captured qualitative insights from a large number of consumers regarding their experience using product packaging and combined the quantitative rigor of survey research to capture brand familiarity and perceptions, as well as brand preference and loyalty.

Results demonstrate that design is important to consumers and also that consumers are increasingly design literate. The perceived quality of the package design does impact brand evaluation. Negative reactions to product packaging adversely impacted intent to purchase and intent to recommend the product to others.

Results show that the mixed model is a promising method for gaining feedback on new package designs. Substantive implications include: design drives purchase, consumers want to be involved in design, and getting user input on design is important.

Consumer packaged goods companies often test packaging prototypes in a limited way – they either ignore qualitative measurement completely or use small sample focus groups. This quali‐quant method offers two advantages over the methodologies most commonly used to study package design; it has the capacity to engage large numbers of consumers and it can be set up to gather data from consumers during or immediately after product use.