Packaging design can make a huge difference in how consumers perceive products. It also plays a significant role in shaping purchasing decisions. Does the package communicate what the target consumer expects? That's the question designers must face. Here's a look at how research backs the theory that colors and other design features on packaging affect buying behavior.

Color is a major factor that attracts consumers to brands, packages and products. It's fairly well known among packaging designers that a significant percentage of consumers associate vibrant and warm colors with attractiveness. Meanwhile, cool colors on food packaging often associate with healthiness. Here's a look at how a consumer formulates color associations that inevitably affect purchasing decisions.

Metal packaging is the solution to many food safety concerns. It's simply a strong, seamless and durable solution for storing food, blocking out contaminants. Aluminum and tinplate are among the most widely used materials in food packaging. Here are reasons why it's safe for metal to touch food. 

To what degree do consumers manufacture their own mental associations with packaging? Studies show both the packaging material and the coloring play a huge role in attracting their attention. Here's a look at what research has revealed about metal packaging and how it affects the consumer mind.

Packages communicate with consumers on a subconscious level, which can affect purchasing decisions. That's why packaging designers must take a deeper interest in consumer psychology and studies on purchasing patterns. Here's a look at how metal packaging must send a message to people's minds that it's healthy and attractive.

Food choices don't seem to require much analysis because everyone is an expert on what their favorite foods are. The question is: can packaging designers come up with designs that sway consumers to buy foods they haven't tried before? That's an area of consumer research that hasn't been explored much. But here are some ideas on what designers should be thinking about in terms of how lifestyles and perceptions of consumers play a role in their food choices.

Package design plays a significant role in affecting consumer expectations on how a food product tastes and the perceptions of healthiness. It might even have greater impact than what researchers have observed the past few decades. At the core of this finding is multi-sensory perception, in which consumers make decisions based on a combination of inputs from the five basic human senses. Here's a look at how sensory design of metal packaging affects consumer expectations of a product.

 Multi-sensory experiences have been linked to brands over the past century as part of the consumer purchasing decision process. Here are points about touch manufacturers and package designers should consider in the post-COVID era.

Millennials, more than any other age group so far, pay closest attention to packaging content, especially ingredients. A 2019 study at the University of Valencia, Spain explored how food is marketed to millennials. Here are some of the findings of this unique study on millennials and their attraction to healthy food messages.