The influence of food packaging on consumer choices

Packaging of the products, especially the food items is the most tangible representation of the product and the sales of any food product, to a great extent, depend on its packaging. Hence, it is vital to spend time on getting the packaging right.

As per a recent study conducted by WebpageFX, a subconscious judgement about the product is made by the consumers in less than 90 seconds of seeing it, and over 60% of the people assess the food item on the basis of its packaging design and colour. So, it is clear that the influence of food packaging is quite significant on the consumer choices.

How to Use the Colour Psychology For Food Packaging?

The colours that you choose for food packaging should be able to project your intended subliminal message for attracting your target audiences and prompt them to buy the products. For instance, using the bright colours for packaging food items can be a good idea to attract the interest of children, whereas if you want to gain attention from the older consumers you should use softer shades of colours.

Many marketing professionals and psychologists have accentuated the fact that there is a considerable link between the colours and the way they influence the human behaviour.  Here are some of the common colours used for packaging food products and how they impact the purchase behaviour of people:

Yellow

Yellow is the colours which is fastest processed by the brain and thus, is one of the best colours for grabbing the attention of the onlookers. At the same time, yellow also acts as an appetite stimulant. Scientists have established that when we look at the yellow colour, Serotonin (the feel good chemical) is released by the brain, and thus, people feel good about what they are buying.

Blue

Blue can be regarded as one of the most unappetizing colour when it comes to drinks and food, and thus, you won’t find this colour on the food packages except for the food products made from blueberries. Most recently, blue colour is being used by the food products representing the low calorie options.

Green

Green is the colour which our mind often associates with natural, healthy, vegetarian, organic and fresh food items. So, in food marketing, green is the perfect colour which you can use for marketing the food items which you can want to highlight the natural ingredients or the claim the associated health benefits.

Orange

A blend of yellow and red, orange produces similar effects as produced by red and yellow. Orange colour stimulates the senses and encourage impulse buying, and thus, it’s an apt choice for FTG and convenience snack packages.

How many colours should you use in food packaging?

The more colours you incorporate in the food packaging, the less attractive and sophisticated it looks. Moreover, the large number of colours, the less they are able to convey the right message. Thus, one should use one or two prominent colours only in order to influence the behaviour of the customers.

Praseeda Nair

Praseeda Nair

Praseeda was Editor for GrowthBusiness.co.uk from 2016 to 2018.