Sustainable Water Package: Technical Analysis Versus Consumer Perception

Abstract

Every year, an average of 1000000 L of mineral water are sold in Portugal. An amount of plastic waste from the bottles, plastic and labels could arise ecological problems. Portuguese are now paying more attention to environmental issues and most consumers consider sustainable issues in their purchase intentions. This study analyses how sustainable Portuguese water bottles considering two important functions of packages: technical analysis (material usage for plastic bottle, plastic cap, label and complete amount of water) and communication role (how consumers perceived the bottle in terms of sustainability). Therefore, two studies are carried out. The first measures the weight variations of bottle components and the second inquiries the consumers to rank the bottle pictures in terms of sustainable design attributes.