Consumers Speak Up About Pesky Packaging

Consumers Speak Up About Pesky Packaging

Face it: As a consumer and a business owner, you and your customers are going to come into contact with some pesky packaging for products. Impossible to open shrinkwraps; blister packs that won't budge; non-resealable bags that beget stale food from fresh food. "I hate blister packs on batteries and Walkmans; I have to open them with my teeth," complained one consumer in a recent study conducted by Cheskin Research.

The market research firm in Redwood Shores, Calif., asked 200 consumers to look around their homes for packaging that they found most annoying. Shrink wrap covers, childproof containers and blister packs topped the list.

"As we have been testing consumer responses to packaging around the world for the past 50 years, it is amazing what consumers will do to get into a package," says Davis Masten, principal at Cheskin Research. "I remember one consumer talk about how the package said just cut along the dotted line. Who has got scissors handy all the time? They ended up cutting their mouth as they opened the Walkman [with their teeth]. This is clearly manufacturing-centered packaging, not consumer-centered packaging."

CD packages topped the list as the single most annoying package. "The CD package is really designed to prevent pilferage at the point of sale," says Darrel Rhea, also a principal of Cheskin Research. Rhea, who has been studying packaging around the world for almost 20 years, cites how packages must meet many demands. "The CD has to identify the product, differentiate it from all the other CDs, motivate the customer to purchase, serve as a storage container for reuse at home, and carry lyrics or instructions on the inside. At the same time, it is wrapped to make it almost impossible to open at the point of sale and steal."

Rhea speculates that at least two phenomena may change this negative perception of the CD packaging in time. "As the Internet starts to provide downloadable music and computer games, the need for point-of-sale packaging will diminish. Also, we recommend that retailers offer to open these products for customers in store. This would be an easy service that could enhance packaging perception as well as retailer image," states Rhea.

Eleven percent of all consumers condemned the invention of childproof containers. One respondent noted, "It's very difficult for a person with arthritis. You need to find a child to open these childproof containers." Senior citizens, in particular, complained about how as they get older, packages become harder to open.

"As the population ages, this will be an opportunity for manufacturers to help make consumers' lives easier," says Masten.