Simulated Environments for Food Packaging Design Assessment

Using applied retail research, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the viability of using a simulated environment to conduct packaging design validation tests in order to gain deep insights into the ways in which purchasers make buying decisions. The resultant knowledge will provide empirical data on packaging design for Welsh food Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Packaged food products are increasing rapidly in choice, and competition is ever more intense. More than 70% of consumers make decisions on daily necessities in store, 85% of goods are purchased without picking up an alternative option, and 90% are purchased after examining only the front packaging of a product without having it in their hands. Therefore, it is paramount for companies to ensure that their products are eye catching.

Eye tracking has proved to be a valuable tool in assessing consumer attention, as
consumer attention has been shown to be correlated with product3. However, their facilities are highly costly, and their guidelines and results are not available to the public. Large companies such as Pepsico, and Unilever regularly use eye-tracking methods in the development of new packaging and retail strategies, to assess consumer attention in shopping environments.

In the context of the food industry, research suggests that when a shopper does not connect to a shopping context, they will often remove themselves from a shopping mind set, and instead assume a more aesthetically critical mentality, turning the experiment into a ‘beauty contest’ where the most visually appealing product will win – an irregular occurrence that does not correlate with purchase decisions made at the shelf in real life. A simulated environment can replicate external variables (to some extent) to simulate a real-life context in a laboratory setting. The simulated environment is also customisable, it ensures confidentiality, and enables the easy set-up of an array of data recording
devices.