It’s a fine balance. Humans are consumers by nature, and most of us purchase goods on a daily basis. The vast majority of the goods we buy come in some form of packaging. The primary reason why goods are packaged is to keep them safe and clean from the time they leave the manufacturer to the minute you unwrap them at home. In addition to keeping the goods in mint condition, packaging also has a marketing function in conveying brand.
Packaging can be designed to promote corporate identity through prominent logo’s and unique shapes. This makes packaging an important factor in marketing products, after all, marketing is about how the consumer perceives and identifies with the product.
So, let’s go back to the primary “protective” function of packaging. People are now recognising that the harmful materials which have for decades been associated with quality, such as shrink-wrap plastic, are contributing to global warming and other environmental issues. They use petrochemical resources and a lot of energy to create, end up in landfill where they don’t easily biodegrade, often after a single use, and have also been linked to health issues when used to wrap food.
Armed with this information, consumers are now demanding that harmful plastic packaging is replaced with more eco-friendly and sustainable alternatives. They are voting with their feet, a global consumer trends study by IBM carried out in January 2020 found that 57% of consumers are willing to change their purchasing habits to help reduce the negative impact on the environment of plastic packaging.
The key takeaway message from the IBM study is that now, more than ever before, the importance of brand purpose surpasses cost and convenience for today’s shoppers with a staggering 71% willing to pay an added premium for companies offering full transparency and traceability.
This represents a major shift in how consumers are now identifying with products, along with changes in buying behaviours, which puts the ball firmly in the court of retailers and consumer packaged goods brands to face up to the challenges in order to retain loyal customers and build brand affinity.
This is a big deal, but it’s hard to see a downside. If retailers and brands switch to using sustainable packaging then the environment will benefit, the payback being building customer loyalty and brand affinity, so the retailers and brands benefit. Win-win!
Yes, it’s going to take time, but the wheels are in motion and the benefits will be felt through future generations, and let’s face it – it’s about time we started thinking about the legacy we will leave behind.
At Jo’s Eco Shop we embrace this ethos and ensure that all of our products are responsibly sourced and packaged in sustainable materials.