Neuromarketing in Packaging
For decades, marketers have sought to understand the motives behind a consumer’s purchase intent. What makes a product stand out? What are consumers thinking and feeling as they interact with a product and its packaging? In the past, marketers relied on traditional research methods like focus groups and surveys to discover the answers to these questions and more. Thanks to the advancement of technology, a new field of marketing methodology exists today: neuromarketing.
According to the Neuromarketing Science and Business Association, “neuromarketing studies which emotions are relevant in human decision making and uses this knowledge to improve marketing’s effectiveness.” Neuromarketing applied to packaging can radically improve the consumer experience from aesthetic to function.
Neuromarketing packaging research can be executed through biometric testing such as eye tracking or facial coding analysis. Leading packaging research firm, Package InSight, empowers brand owners with data quantifying the impact of different design stimuli. Research studies are performed in a retail environment with the exact target market.
The benefits of neuromarketing for packaging are incredible. Biometric testing can reveal how your customers respond to packaging colors, shapes, symbols, structures, substrates, and more.
And, fortunately, you do not have to be a scientist to start realizing the benefits of neuromarketing for packaging. Anyone can embrace the principles of neuromarketing by learning about human factors. No matter our culture, our language, our color, or our gender – human factors are the psychological and sociological ways that we are all hard wired. And human factors will help you increase your product’s chances of being seen, retaining attention, communicating clear value quickly, and ultimately, converting that attention to a sale.
To achieve success, there are four key human factors that neuromarketing tells us to consider:
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Perception – What do people look at, how do they look at things, and why do they look at the things they do?
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Cognition – What are the processes consumers use to make decisions? How do they decide on the right product for their needs?
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Appeal – What do shoppers find attractive and appealing?
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Decisions – What factors influence a consumer’s ultimate decision to buy?
These human factors are important to understand for everyone in the packaging development process. Learning how shoppers interact within your product category and with your brand media is particularly essential. If you care about product sales and brand performance, it is essential that you understand these human factors to assess the return on investment of packaging design features. Knowing what triggers human perception, cognition, appeal and decisions will enable you to optimize the potential success of your product and its packaging.
Human factors are a fascinating subject. There are hundreds of examples of brands harnessing neuromarketing, namely these four human factors, to their advantage in packaging. Do you want to learn them? Check out our Human Factors online course that bridges scientific theory to practical application for your packaging.
