How sustainable packaging can change purchasing behaviour

Congratulations on the ANZMAC Layton Dissertation Award. What did you investigate through your PhD? 

It was an honour for me to receive this award because it represents an opportunity to encourage sustainable consumption behaviour by harnessing consumers’ aversion to wastefulness.

My PhD investigated the role of packaging design in shaping consumers’ brand beliefs and purchase decisions, with a focus on how packaging impacts consumer perceptions of brand wastefulness.

What did your research find?

My PhD developed the concept of consumer perceived brand wastefulness and highlighted how these perceptions impact consumer preferences for overpackaged products. I found that consumer perceptions of brand wastefulness encompass three dimensions – unnecessary consumption, inefficient utilisation and tangible waste.

I found that consumers considered brands to be wasteful if they encouraged unnecessary consumption. For instance, fast fashion was perceived as wasteful because it encourages you to buy more than you need. For packaged food, brands can reduce unnecessary consumption of packaging materials by reducing their packaging from two layers to one.

Secondly, inefficient utilisation is when resources are consumed but not used to their maximum potential. For example, if you turn the air conditioner on in your hotel but go out for the day. Single-use packaging was another example of inefficient utilisation, where the packaging materials are typically only used once.

Finally, most people are familiar with tangible waste, which is physical leftovers that are thrown away instead of being used in other ways. For instance, sending food leftovers to landfill instead of composting or not recycling recyclable packaging.

How does tangible waste impact purchase decisions?

We did a lot of work around fresh food packaging. If you take apples, for example, we looked at buyer behaviour in relation to apples that have two layers of packaging, apples that have one layer of packaging, and apples with no packaging at all. Overwhelming, consumers preferred no packaging, and this was explained by their perceptions of tangible waste associated with the additional packaging.

Interestingly, we found that recyclability claims relating to the packaging did not impact purchase decisions, whereas the amount of product packaging did. The tangibility of physical packaging and its potential to become waste was a key factor explaining these purchase decisions. When brands alert consumers to tangible waste, that can really encourage sustainable purchase behaviour and lead to more people purchasing those products.

What’s next for you?

Sustainable packaging is an impactful way brands can contribute to a more sustainable future. This can include eliminating and reducing packaging, as well as compostable, plant-based, and circular economy models which involve reusable and refillable packaging.

At the same time, consumers place varying degrees of importance on sustainability issues, ranging from people who are heavily committed to sustainability through to those with no interest, and sustainable packaging is one of the more universally appealing ways food and beverage brands can resonate with consumers. It’s ‘low hanging fruit’ and an opportunity to be the next baseline in terms of what we can use to achieve sustainable production and consumption patterns.

Of course, there are trade-offs that must be considered. For instance, if you eliminate packaging or adopt refillable systems, you need to consider how this can impact food freshness, safety and preservation. Companies need to think carefully about the best product packaging that can effectively navigate these complex demands. I’m very interested in my current projects which explore these issues and working with companies to facilitate effective transitions to sustainable packaging.