Product packaging and shopper behavior

At the most basic of levels, studies suggest two types of consumers are strolling the retail aisles—the default consumer and the conscious shopper. These two shopper profiles require product packaging to play specific roles. This article is the beginning portion of a recent White Paper from Quality Assured, "The Role of Product Pacakaging as it Relates to Shopping Behavior." The paper aims differentiate the two shopping behaviours, address the role packaging plays for each, and offer suggestions on how designers and marketers may incorporate specialty print enhancements into their product packaging — thus, increasing the likelihood of first time and repeat purchases.

The following assumptions have been made:
1. The product is a low involvement purchase such as personal care products, household chemicals, and OTCs.

2. The product meets the need of the consumer; or the shopper is part of the product's target audience, thus the meeting a need the consumer may be unaware of.

DEFAULT CONSUMER
The majority of low involvement product purchases are made in default mode, meaning consumers are giving little to no thought when choosing between brands in a particular product category. Studies suggest this could be as high as 2/3 of purchases made in the category. The default consumer enters a store knowing which brand will be selected. This is not necessarily a conscious decision or strongly associated with brand loyalty. When the last purchase met the need of the default consumer, busy life styles win out and repeat purchases are made.

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