Consumer Perceptions of Food Packaging: Contributing to or Counteracting Environmentally Sustainable Development?

Abstract

Packaging has a fundamental role in ensuring safe delivery of goods throughout supply chains to the end consumer in good condition. It also has great potential to contribute to sustainable development. This paper explores and provides insights on Swedish consumer perceptions and knowledge of environmental aspects of food packaging and elaborates on how these can contribute to or counteract environmentally sustainable development. A study based on a consumer survey carried out in Sweden is presented. A review of recent packaging research emphasizes the protective function of packaging as its most important contribution to the environmental dimension of sustainable development. Contrary to this, consumers almost exclusively refer to the packaging material when it comes to their perceptions of the environmental impact of packaging. Paper‐based packaging is strongly understood by the surveyed consumers to be environmentally advantageous, whereas plastic and metal are not. This study further indicates that a majority of the Swedish consumers surveyed are aware of their shortcomings in judging the environmental status of food packaging, indicating a need for guidance; otherwise, consumer choices can unintendedly counteract environmentally sustainable intentions. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

How Do Packaging Material, Colour and Environmental Claim Influence Package, Brand and Product Evaluations?

“…In this context, it is important to adequately convey the eco‐friendliness of the package. Indeed, research has shown that consumers are willing to pay a price premium when they are certain that the packaged product conveys certain qualities . Through style elements and environmental claims about the package, designers can enhance the understanding of environment‐friendly packaging.…”

“…Especially for food products, future studies should stress the influence of the package design on the product lifespan. Indeed, while organic or paper‐based packages positively influence perceptions of packaging and product environment‐friendliness, they might not provide optimal protection for the product, which would in turn increase the risk of wastage . Future experiments could adopt more global approaches and test the influence of the protective qualities of the product package (e.g.…”

“…While some studies state that consumers consider recyclability the main aspect of environment‐friendly packaging, recent studies show that there are actually more aspects of packaging to take into account . These elements are for example related to the perceptions of the material or to reducing product waste.…”

“…Style elements refer to packaging design elements that relate to the appearance of the package. More precisely, there is a need for knowledge about the elements of style that consumers consider as being representative of more environment‐friendly packaging . Next, the way in which these elements influence subsequent evaluations of the brand and the product represents an interesting avenue for research as prior studies have shown that individuals constantly draw inferences about the product and the brand from the packaging …”

How green is your packaging—A comparative international study of cues consumers use to recognize environmentally friendly packaging

“…So it is not surprising that research has identified both time pressure and cognitive overload together with a lack of willingness to process more information (Weinrich, Franz, & Spiller, ; Weinrich & Spiller, ) as factors limiting consumer selection of environmentally friendly packaging (Biel & Dahlstrand, ; Sheth, Newman, & Gross, ). In past studies, consumers have also expressed concern about their ability to judge packaging solutions (Lindh, Olsson, & Williams, ).…”