Effect of change in shape and colour of packaging of perfumes on consumer buying behaviour

Abstract

This study tries to understand the effect of change in colour and shape of packaging on buying behaviour of consumers. Packaging plays a significant role in the consumer decision, especially in the case of perfumes as they are being purchased impulsively most of the times. The package affects the consumer's buying decisions, and package design should be more favourable in the eyes of the customers. According to Panwar(2004) "Packaging is the act of containing, protecting and presenting the contents through the long chain of production, handling and transportation to their destinations in as good a state, as they were, at the time of production". Due to increasing selfservice and changing consumers’ lifestyle the importance of packaging in the promotion of sales is growing increasingly. Packaging is becoming one of the most important factors influencing the buying decision of customers nowadays. Especially in the perfume category, where there is a wide range of brands to choose from, chances of customers buying the product by seeing the packaging are higher. Packaging is widely used as a tool for marketing communication as well. It is observed that for a customer to buy a product it is not just the quality and the price of the product have to be desirable, but also packaging has to be attractive enough to influence the purchase decision of the customers. Since in this particular category- that is perfumes- customers are not very brand conscious, people tend to choose products with better packaging at the place of sale. It is seen that the customer sometimes thinks when the packaging of the product is changed, the formula or ingredients are also changed, which is not the fact most of the times. In this context packaging not just plays the role of container and protector, but also is an important factor which influences baying behaviour. This study focuses more on the aesthetic aspect of packaging. The intention of this study is to find out to what extent a consumer's buying decision is influenced when the colour and shape of perfume packaging are changed. In perfumes aesthetics of the packaging, especially colour and shape are two things which are experimented a lot by different manufacturers. In the perfumes category no study has been previously conducted on effect of change in colour and shape in the indian context. of perfumes. Also most of the studies have been based on the attribute of fragrance Since the behaviour of the indian consumer is typically different from the others it is worthwhile to conduct this study.