Package Design - November 2012 - 14

SUSTAINABLY SPEAKING

BY STErGIoS BITITSIoS

The Emotional Side of Sustainability
Further eco goals by appealing to consumers’ emotions.
hen it comes to packaging, manufacturers are making efforts to develop sustainable designs; via lightweighting, recyclability and biodegradable materials. This can’t happen if consumers don’t support designers and brands’ efforts by purchasing the packaged products. What do users expect packaging design to deliver? At MMR, we know from our experience in user-centered design research, that they demand convenience, superior functionality and value for money, all culminating in emotional reassurance. These expectations, which are the predominant drivers of choice and purchase, don’t seem to be influenced by a pack’s green credentials. Designing for targeted emotional responses is key in establishing and maintaining a strong and long lasting relationship between consumers and packaged product.

None of this can happen if consumers don’t support designers and brands’ efforts by purchasing the packaged products.
emotionAl pAckAging design
How can emotionality be used to develop sustainable packaging designs? Arrowhead water’s 1.5-L bottle employs a contoured, curvy silhouette that not only makes Arrowhead water bottles easy to carry, handle and pour, but also makes them more aesthetically and emotionally appealing. The individual design stands out on the shelf and its lightweight structure means bottles are easy to collapse and dispose. Another bonus: less plastic means lower production costs, leading to more affordable retail prices and more generous margins. That’s great for the beverage brand, but how can designers and brand owners for other packaged goods? MMR’s experience in sensory science, consumer psychology and design has highlighted that the key design properties of a package, e.g., form, texture, color, aroma and sound, transmit sensory
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cues which, when received by consumers, govern how they perceive and make sense of its design. Consumers often subconsciously assign meaning to these properties. Just by looking and holding the packaging for Cascade dishwasher tablets, a consumer might describe the product as delivering fast results and efficacious without even having any prior experience of using it. Interpretations can be made from the soft, glossy texture of the package, its form and vivid green color. At MMR, we call these descriptors that drive perceptions conceptualizations. Manufacturers and pack designers need to address these conceptualizations to fully benefit from emotional packaging design. There are four successive rules for designing emotionally sustainable packaging: unearth emotional conceptualizations; prioritize the extracted conceptualizations; to link top-priority conceptualizations with design properties and fine-tune design properties for targeted emotional response.

Align the environment, emotions
Designing emotionally sustainable packaging requires a systematic process and the involvement of consumer research experts throughout the packaging design cycle to realize potential benefits. A framework for effectively managing creativity and design trade-offs must be in place to get the balance right for consumers in the final package. When brands take this approach, they can enjoy category growth, consumption increase and consumer loyalty and still meet their corporate social responsibility goals. If the sustainability agenda is to move forward and a more sustainable future to be realized, aligning environmental with emotional benefits throughout the packaging design process must be seen as a necessity and not a luxury. PD For articles on similar topics, visit the Sustainability channel on PackageDesignMag.com.

Stergios Bititsios is associate director packaging and design at MMR Research Worldwide (MMR).

Package Design - November 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Package Design - November 2012