SPECIAL FEATURE – Consumer Research: How attitudes to packaging, including that for food, and its functionality have changed over the past seven years, based on a survey of 1,000 UK consumers, is the subject of a new White Paper from packaging tapes provider Essentra Tapes.
The full results were first revealed at a ThePackHub webinar, where Essentra Tape’s head of marketing & development, Ian Beresford, unveiled consumers’ latest opinions and compared them to previous research in 2013.
While the survey showed a 15% decrease in consumer packaging frustrations during this time, at 70% the figure remained high, with difficulty in opening packs still a major gripe among respondents.
However, environmental concerns and the huge growth of e-commerce have had a significant influence on consumer opinions, and overpackaging is now seen as the number one frustration.
The Covid-19 pandemic has also had an impact, with the hygienic benefits of packaging becoming more important.
Age was still a key factor, and the research confirmed that ease of access continued to be a particular problem for the over 55s. Access was also the deciding factor behind consumers’ most and least favourite pack styles.
In addition, consumers highlighted the importance of sustainability within packaging and ranked recyclability as their number one issue. Packs that are easy to recycle are what consumers care about and providing simple, clear instructions and the necessary infrastructure to help with this is key, according to the results.
“Our latest research shows that the image of packaging among consumers has improved somewhat since 2013 but there is clearly still work to do,” said Ian Beresford. “In particular, it underlines the need for packaging manufacturers to continue to adapt their solutions in line with current market trends and consumer attitudes to sustainability, making it easier for them to make the right choice.
Key findings
- Too much packaging is now the number one frustration with 58% of consumers highlighting this issue, an increase from 49% in 2013.
- 57% of those surveyed cited ‘Difficult to open’ as their top frustration and 48% said that they had to use knives or other tools to get into packs. This compares to 61% and 69% in 2013.
- 56% of respondents said there was too much packaging in home delivered goods and 40% highlighted the amount of waste this generates.
- More than 50% of consumers are very or extremely concerned about the hygiene of goods in supermarkets and takeaway food deliveries as a result of the pandemic.
The Essentra white paper is available to download here.
