The influence of price and label on the consumption of persuasive packaging: considerations for the development of products

Abstract

Labels acts as a silent seller, showing product characteristics and benefits. In the area of product development, this practice could suggest persuasion and seduction through abusing practices as Greenwashing, Trade Dress, and questionable quality certifications. In this context, this paper has the objective of researching price and label information influence in persuasive packaging consumption. Two paired experiments analyze price and information influences, manipulating these variables (price and label information) to verify behavior on 60 frequent consumers. Promotional price tags and new labels were created in order to verify consumer choices. Contrary to expectations, despite of warnings about suspicious strategies used in packaging, consumers kept buying small amounts and products of lower quality or unethical, because of their lower prices. We conclude that increasing each product's information on the label, will not inhibit persuasive product consumption, otherwise will improve the final decision, just like it will improve the choosing process of products' baskets. Theoretical contribution: the consumer should be seen as an individual of groupings of products and not of isolated items. Excession is made for the case of Greenwhasing which has presented itself as an effective practice of market seduction. Consumer units or Diderot units have been investigated as a consumer effect for a specific consumer choice over subsequent goods. Practical contribution: from applied studies aimed at the search for consumer well-being and quality of life, we seek in this study to highlight healthy marketing practices that have less adverse effects on consumption and after sales of goods. Studies on Transformative Consumer Research.