How Makeup Packaging Affect Consumer Perceptions

Ellen Lueb, Sr. Research Analyst, SKIM09.11.14

Ellen Lueb,
Sr. Research Annotator, SKIM

Packaging is an important gene in consumers' shopping experience: It'southward the first matter consumers see when approaching an item of interest, and it's what they can physically impact upon further inspection.

But to what extent does a production'due south packaging actually drive the determination to purchase the product? Especially in the loftier-end beauty market place, appealing packaging is considered a must.

To discover out whether appealing packaging really does motivate consumers' purchasing behavior, SKIM, an international market research agency, conducted a quantitative study amidst high-end cosmetics consumers in iv key markets globally - the U.S., Brazil, Cathay, and France.

As information technology looks into shoppers' purchase decision making process, the written report helps united states of america understand the role packaging plays among a long list of buy drivers such as toll, shop layout or the presence of beauty advisors. In addition, the report looked at different types of cosmetics, including foundation, mascara, lip products (gloss or stick), fragrance and moisturizer.

Packaging was found to be less of a buy commuter overall: in all four countries it ranks number 14-15 (China & France, respectively) to 20 (U.S. & Brazil) out of 22 purchase drivers.

The influence of packaging is similar across production categories with only small differences: Packaging seems to be slightly less influential for moisturizers in France and in the U.Due south., and for foundation in China and Brazil.

Both types of cosmetics are less socially visible, which may explain why the visual touch of packaging is of lower importance. Nonetheless, this is not to say that a product's packaging is but not relevant to consumers. To find out more most the actual influence of packaging on consumers' buy conclusion, one needs to dig a fleck deeper.

Since this study was conducted in different retail environments, a comparison was fabricated between mass retail, high-end retail, and online retail. Overall, factors such every bit product characteristics, credibility, and cost appear to drive consumers' choices the most, but when looking at the different retail channels we find that packaging does play a larger role in a high-end retail environment. With toll becoming less of a purchase driver in this environment, make-related factors (due east.yard. condition, epitome, packaging) gain in importance.

Moreover, the influence of packaging is strengthened by consumers' ownership occasion . If a product is purchased for their ain utilise, factors like cost and product availability are main buy drivers. However, if the product is bought as a souvenir for someone else, brand-related factors such as product condition, epitome, and packaging again go more important in the purchase conclusion.

Though we cannot directly confirm that improve packaging design positively influences client satisfaction, it does appear obvious that a less premium package design negatively influences customer satisfaction. This is especially the case in the high-end cosmetics surroundings.

Though it may not rank among the tiptop influencing purchase drivers, overnice packaging is expected and a lack thereof volition outcome in lower client satisfaction with the product. Therefore, having nice packaging will not direct result in a more positive perception of the product, but not having nice packaging will trigger consumers to view the production in a less positive lite , in comparison to the contest.