Why Every Entrepreneur Should Understand How Packaging Influences Consumer Behavior

As entrepreneurs, we’re responsible for bringing new and useful things into existence, whether a product, a service, or a combination of the two. My early experiences with entrepreneurship were focused on software as a service, and I spent almost zero time thinking about what I could learn from product-based companies. Having transitioned to working in packaging manufacturing, which is very much a product-based world, I now believe that was a mistake. All entrepreneurs could learn important lessons from product packaging.

Packaging is a unique aspect of the product world because it often serves as an ambassador for the brand. Good product packaging can influence consumer behavior. It’s a microcosm of the broader world, with lessons that can apply to business leaders and entrepreneurs. We’re all consumers, including the investors you hope to land, the prospective employees you hope will join your team, and the customers you hope will buy your products. So, by understanding how packaging influences consumer behavior, you can better understand how to attract the right people to your growing business, no matter what you’re offering.

While discussing packaging with leading and growing brands, we often focus first on its psychological aspects and then on the key elements that affect consumer decisions.

Packaging psychology has three key areas that influence consumer behavior.

1. Visual appeal enables you to capture someone’s attention and informs their assumptions about you, your company, and your product. There’s a reason the cliché “perception is reality” has become so widespread. What we see often affects what we believe. Something that is visually appealing is perceived as better or higher quality, whether it’s a website, a product, or a person. While visual appeal cannot replace substance or quality, ignoring the role of visual appeal can undermine the hard work you’ve done cultivating your company mission and products.
2. Emotional resonance plays a central role in many business decisions, from the thumbnail for a video to a nostalgic packaging design. As we move beyond transactional relationships, our customers’ emotional connection with our products should be at the forefront of our minds.
3. Cognitive processing: For most people, even those who excel at complex strategic thinking for a living, making difficult decisions throughout the day is mentally and physically taxing. Our brains crave clear, simple information because our world is so complicated. People and companies that make it easy to understand their messages foster rapport, reliability, and trustworthiness. When examining key elements of your company, your goal should be to minimize the need for cognitive processing.

Now that you understand the psychological aspect of product packaging, let’s review the elements that influence those emotional connections to a brand, and how packaging inspires those reactions.

Look and feel

Colors, fonts, and graphics impact how your product, service, or company is perceived. In the packaging world, we typically look at this within the context of how your product will look on the shelf or feel in a consumer’s hand. You should also apply these elements to your website, presentations, retail store, and other consumer touchpoints. 

The look and feel of your products or brand identity can impart a sense of nostalgia, which will cause certain consumer behaviors. They can also create a sense of tranquility or ultra-modernity, triggering different behaviors in other people. Regardless, you’ll want to create an emotional connection and convey your message with as little cognitive processing as possible.

First impressions

First impressions create a baseline that can be hard to change later. A great first impression can dictate whether you’re on an easy path to meeting your goals or have a steep uphill battle to climb. Remember that stakeholders may have different first interactions with your company; a potential investor must be approached differently than employees or customers.

Telling a story

Stories are especially effective communicators. More than ever, you have many opportunities and outlets to tell them. Most packages tell at least one memorable story about the product, brand, or both. Now, imagine how many storytelling outlets you have across your marketing, public relations, and internal communications channels. Stories are particularly good at building emotional connections. Most people will forget the specifics of your story but remember how they felt as they learned it. Take every opportunity to tell a brief, clear, compelling story that builds the emotional connections you need.

Ease of use

While most entrepreneurs and business leaders think about ease of use within the context of their product or service, they forget that it extends into many areas of their business. In the packaging world, we design packages that are easy to open or, paradoxically, a more time-intensive endeavor to create an in-depth unboxing experience.

As a business leader, consider the optimal ease of use for your products, services, retail location, office space, investor relations, and more. Ease of use can either amplify or undo all the good work you’ve done up to this point.

Core functionality

Perhaps the most important key element is what your product or service does: its core functionality. You’re probably very focused on this. But don’t forget all the other important areas of your company, from the roles on your team to the suppliers you select. 

In the packaging world, the key functionality is protecting the product. While it would be easy to believe that packaging engineers or designers never lose sight of packaging’s core functionality, I’ve seen this happen many times. Those designs never last long, and their impact on the brand can still be disastrous.

I’ve also seen intelligent founders and business leaders forget to consider the core functionality of different aspects of their company. For example, creating software with a rarely used feature that detracts from the core functionality. Or sending an investor a pitch better suited to a customer.

Focus on how these key elements impact your stakeholders, especially your team, customers, and investors. If you can leverage them to create a strong emotional connection, improve visual appeal, and reduce cognitive processing, you’ll have stacked the odds of success in your favor. If you’re wondering which other businesses do that successfully, check out the packaging of any leading brand, and you’re likely to see a master class.