Dataset Information

Contained: why it's better to display some products without a package.

ABSTRACT: Across varying marketplace contexts (e.g., grocery stores, restaurants, e-commerce) managers display products with and without packaging, seemingly arbitrarily. Does displaying a product packaged as opposed to unpackaged influence consumers' product responses? Six controlled experiments and an Instagram study address this question. We focus primarily on food products but show our results extend to non-food products that are natural (i.e., originate from plants, animals, or humans). We propose that, in addition to its physical function, packaging acts as a symbolic barrier that separates the product from nature, decreasing perceived product naturalness and leading to less favorable product responses. Consistent with our theorizing, the negative effects of packaging attenuate when product information or retail signage highlights the product's connection to nature and are contingent on the importance of product naturalness. Our findings have implications for strategic use of packaging in physical and digital merchandising and sustainability initiatives aimed at reducing packaging.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11747-021-00800-3.

SUBMITTER: Szocs C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8390995 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Contained: why it's better to display some products without a package.

Szocs Courtney C Williamson Sara S Mills Adam A

Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 20210827 1

Across varying marketplace contexts (e.g., grocery stores, restaurants, e-commerce) managers display products with and without packaging, seemingly arbitrarily. Does displaying a product packaged as opposed to unpackaged influence consumers' product responses? Six controlled experiments and an Instagram study address this question. We focus primarily on food products but show our results extend to non-food products that are natural (i.e., originate from plants, animals, or humans). We propose th ...[more]

PMID: 34465928

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundPackage leaflet provides information about medicinal product to the user. Printed leaflet is familiar and available, however poorly legible, especially when containing multiple languages. It is resourceful to update, has potential to go missing or get damaged, and is environmentally burdensome. The pharmaceutical manufacturers in the Baltic countries have been granted permission to market selected hospital medicinal products without printed package leaflet. The industrial pilot project is expected to promote availability of medicinal products and patient safety via increased access to medicinal information.ObjectiveOnly few countries in Europe have derogated from Article 58 of Directive 2001/83/EC. Knowledge about the effects of removal of paper package leaflet from the medicinal product is limited, and related publications are scarce. Current interview study is identifying the obstacles during the implementation of the industrial project, investigating the potential environmental impact, and searching for further opportunities for the package leaflet in development of medicinal products.MethodsReal-time person-to-person semi-structured interviews with relevant stakeholders were conducted, and transcripts were analysed by content analysis to identify themes.ResultsResults demonstrated general support for removing package leaflet from selected hospital products. Main difficulties of the industrial project regarded the need for clear communication and practical disadvantages of project setup. Main benefits included educational aspect of increasing awareness about product information and strengthened collaboration. Majority of participants felt doubtful about the impact of the industrial project on people's awareness of ecological issues and they admittedly lacked sufficient information on the environmental impact of pharmaceutical packaging.ConclusionThe removal of paper leaflet could be extended to more products based on the positive feedback for the industrial pilot project. However, it is paramount that the format of electronic product information would need to be enhanced first to improve readability.

Dataset Information

Contained: why it's better to display some products without a package.

Supplementary information

Publications

Contained: why it's better to display some products without a package.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets