Using market research in packaging

by Joy Ward, MediaCross Advertising

August 2001

Consumers are becoming more and more demanding about packaging but how are packagers supposed to know what they want? Ask them, via market research built into the package design process. As Marcia Mogelonsky, senior research analyst with the Mintel International Group says, "You cannot sell a product to an unknown customer. How are you going to reach people if you don't know what they need, if you don't ask them? How are you going to produce a product that suits a need if you don't understand the need? You really have to know what their situation is, not just their physical situation but their psychological situation as well."

Use different types of market research to uncover different types of information

Quantitative research, market research techniques used to quantify answers with numbers and requiring large sample sizes for validity, is often used in packaging. But some designers say that package producers may be missing some crucial information by relying only on what can be counted. Quantitative research is extremely important in understanding the numerical breakdowns of markets and demographics. But when it comes to answering questions such as why people are attracted to packages or products, qualitative research can be much more valuable.

Herb Murrie, founder of MLR Designs, worries that package companies do not look to qualitative research, such as in-depth one-on-one interviews and focus groups, for important pieces to understanding the way to design the emotionally strongest and most compelling packaging. "There is such a resistance by the majority of the package goods manufacturers to use it when it relates to packaging. I think there is a whole ballgame that is being very, very underused."

Greg Erickson, the former director of communications for the Institute of Packaging Professionals, editor-in-chief of Packaging Magazine and publisher of the international newsletter ShelfPresence, also points out that market research includes ergonomic testing for packaging. As a vocal proponent of user-friendly packaging, Erickson often brings attention to packaging that is difficult to use. He recommends that packagers and designers test their new packages with the target market and with those up and down the age range from the intended consumers. "Find your intended audience and test it with them. Then realize that there's going to be trickle up and trickle down and people you don't intend to use it will try it."

How to use market research

Most market researchers and designers who use research extensively recommend that the research be built into the process, not an adjunct process tacked on at the end. The inclusion of market research all along the way insures that the complete package and subsequent advertising campaign can present a united message to consumers. Charles Kenny, president of consumer psychology firm Kenny & Associates, explains how market research can be used to tie everything together. "You want the advertising campaign to connect with whatever visual image was presented to or evoked on the mind of the consumer as he or she is going through the aisles of the store, hitting the end counters or promotional pieces. So it's very important to have a consistency of visual design and visual theme between your advertising campaign and the actual package."

If market research is built into the process, then design talent can be kept apprised of the research and the findings. This prevents misunderstandings later as designers question the results and the research.

Market research is also used to avoid critical errors in packaging. As Murrie notes, "Market research is potentially fantastic to eliminate errors, eliminate putting something into the marketplace in a bad package. The purpose in using research in packaging should be to raise red flags, not to have consumers vote on which is the prettiest packaging. Red flags are not necessarily errors. A red flag is just simply saying something is wrong here. It gives the researcher and the marketing team the opportunity to find out what is wrong. It may be a wonderful package that could sell your product like crazy if you could just resolve this problem."

Murrie warns packagers to screen prospective focus group leaders and other researchers to make sure they know not only what to look for, but how to look for it without leading respondents or asking them to pick their favorites. Murrie encourages packagers to look for the emotional components of the brand, shape and labeling. "If the moderator is really good and knows what he is doing, he won't allow the respondents to behave as art directors. They won't ask them which color would you prefer. They will find out what the emotional responses are, not based on design but based on communication. Because, after all, what is a package supposed to do in today's competitive market? It has to be easy to find, it has to stand out on the shelf and it has to communicate whatever it is that the marketing people want to communicate."

Murrie also says that the research never stops, even after the package hits store shelves. "I think the leaders stay ahead of the game by researching their product continually, seeing how they stack up against the new competition that comes into the marketplace."

How not to use market research

If there's a right way to use market research in packaging, there is also a wrong way. The first caveat that researchers offer is to try to patch market research in on the end of the process. Kenny notes that by keeping research in the loop from the beginning, packagers can have stronger overall designs. "Too often packagers make the mistake of bringing us in for tactical research, instead of strategic. The creative design work has already been done and led to several alternative packages. They show it to consumers in the target market and whichever package consumers like the best, and that word 'like' is a dangerous word, that's how they determine which package to use. The problem with that is that the package design started from a creative platform without starting from the motivational platform of why people buy in the first place. If you know why people buy - the psychological dynamics, the hot buttons, and the emotional barriers - then your package and visual design can be consistent with that information. It gives the creative folks a strategic direction, rather than having to depend on trial and error."

Avoid jumping to conclusions after a small sample of interviews or focus groups. Qualitative research requires fewer respondents to reach a valuable result, but, depending on the product, the target market, and the geographic range in which it's offered, the sample size may still need to be sizable. Gail Fudemberg, president of GRF Marketing Ltd. offered this example. "The wrong way to do market research would be to hold two focus groups and make rash generalizations on two focus groups. You can't just talk to 16 to 20 people and think you have done your research and you can go ahead. That's incomplete and wrong."

MLR Designs' Murrie worries that often-used focus groups can actually mislead packagers and designers if mismanaged. "One of the worst kinds of research, and yet it is so cheap and inexpensive, but its so dangerous because it is so dependent upon the moderator, is the focus group. Its one of the most dangerous types of research because you have a strong individual in a panel of 10 people and you've got people in there who are afraid to express their honest opinions because they don't want to look like idiots."

Kenny agrees that focus groups can provide flawed information. "There are other people in the group and there is a tendency to go with the flow, to go with the majority, to go with the opinion leader or the most dominant person in the group. People just tell you what they like, but that may not connect to the motivation to buy in the product category in the first place."

Murrie advises packagers to avoid using focus groups or other qualitative research platforms as "beauty contests," or letting respondents vote on the packages they prefer as a way to choose packaging. "What's wrong is when people use market research it as the beauty contest type of research."

Murrie says this can cause packagers to miss the best package because it has a few flaws that turn away focus group members. He explains that by understanding the flaws and what consumers really want, the package with a few problems can be tweaked to become the strongest package. "Some packages go down the drain because there are a few red flags on them. The red flags in reality were very minor issues and the best packages were not put into the marketplace. The package put in the marketplace just simply had the most votes and that can be a real danger."