Hey guys,
As introduced in my last post, at Pack Expo Klöckner Pentaplast announced the results of an interesting new consumer market research study, conducted by Clemson University’s CUshop™, which validates the assumption that packaging styles influence the shopping behavior of consumers.
Click here for kp's press release.
Download our Consumer Market Research Report, How Package Design Dictates Product Sales, “Seeing it Sells it!” to learn about Dordan's previous research in these regards.
I was fortunate to witness a presentation by Klöckner Pentaplast titled “Visual Packaging Eyetracking Study” at the Association of Visual Packaging Manufacturer’s Annual Meeting during Pack Expo; this described the study demographic, approach, results and analysis.
According to this presentation, the study was conducted with 68 participants: 36 male, 32 female, ages 18-65+. Participant income ranged from less than $20,000 (30.9%) to over $100,000 (17.6%). And, 76.5% of participants claimed to be the primary shopper of their household.
The study procedure consisted of a “simple shopping task with 3 product types.” It was noted that the eyetracking glasses were calibrated prior to leaving the participant alone in the “shop;” and, a questionnaire was administered to follow.
There were three different products used (razor, toothbrush, electric air freshener), and in each instance the product was displayed in a thermoformed clamshell and a paper box.
The three metrics of interest for the study were: (1) Total fixation duration, which is explained as the “seconds spent fixating on an item"; (2) fixation count, which is the “number of fixations on an item"; and, (3) purchase decisions, the “number who chose to buy the item.”
The results were then analyzed and verified statistically with via these methods: arithmetic mean, analysis of variance, Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient, Welch’s t-test, p-values.
It was found that for the participants of the study, there was a strong preference for clamshell packages over paperboard box. In addition, regardless of the product type, it was found that the participants “tended to purchase clamshell packaging more.” When compared with the paperboard box, the clear clamshell package was found 40% faster, had 675% more fixation counts, 343% longer fixation duration, and facilitated 402% more purchases.
Study results - purchase preference: The study found a strong purchase preference for clamshell packages. Check out this graph from KP's presentation:
Study results - time-to-first fixation (time spent locating the product): The study found that clamshell packages were found 40% faster than paper board boxes.
Study results - fixation duration (time spent fixating on a product, fixation duration is highly correlated with purchase decision i.e. as fixation duration increases so does the likelihood of purchasing that item): The study found that participants spent more that 343% as much time looking at clamshell packages than paperboard boxes.
Study results - fixation count (total number of fixations on a particular product, fixation count is correlated with purchase decision i.e. as fixation count increases so does the likelihood of purchasing that item: The study found that participants had 675% more fixations on clamshell packages than boxes on average.
KP's presentation also included heatmaps from the study to indicate the data points from which the above describes results were determined.
In a nut shell, heatmaps show where most participants looked by visualizing "heat" in that area; the redder an area, the more fixations that area received.
Last but not least, KP described the results of the study questionnaire. Consider the following:
1. When buying personal care products, which package do you perceive as being higher quality?
2. When buying personal care products, which packaging do you believe to be more tamper resistant?
Download the whitepaper below, which includes all graphs pertaining to each product's results (please note: I have included the product averages in the information above).
WOW! Who knew that my grandfather, and the founder of Dordan, was totally right when he proclaimed, "Seeing it Sells it!"
Learn about Dordan's plastic clamshells.