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The Sweet Taste of Packaging

Taste test-like consumer studies show that when designing your product’s packaging, you should consider not just how much it will cost, but how materiality and design strategy influence consumer behavior as well.

Packaging design can have a major impact not just on perceived value, but on the flavor and product experience as well.
Packaging design can have a major impact not just on perceived value, but on the flavor and product experience as well.

I tell my students that while the item inside their package is the commodity, it’s the packaging that provides the value (while protecting, containing, and providing utility of use, of course). However, when confronted with options for packaging, many of us seem to separate the product from the package and focus on cost reduction. My goal is to demonstrate that packaging is so valuable that selecting the best design, versus the best price, will increase revenue, improve product quality, and positively influence the emotions of consumers.

You may have heard about the famous taste tests featuring the same beverage in a paper cup, an aluminum can, a glass bottle, and a plastic container. Reactions to the flavor of that beverage in each of the different containers vary wildly, which makes sense because the materials are very different and have their own associated taste when pressed against our lips. We’ve all likely experienced the difference in taste ourselves across the beverages we consume within vessels of various materials. 

I propose that the simplest elements of packaging influence your evaluation of the product and even your mood. We all know too well the impact a positive experience or a negative experience can have on your entire day. In the vein of taste, emotion, and packaging, I’ve conducted a couple of research experiments to explore how relatively benign changes to packaging can influence mood and evaluation of the quality of a product.

Last year, one of my graduate students studied emotional responses to product labels. We purchased commercially produced bottles of kombucha in three different flavors from the same brand and covered up the flavor names so all the bottles looked the same with the exception of the label color: green, yellow, and orange. What participants didn’t know is that the bottles with the green and yellow labels contained the exact same beverage.


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