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.

Millennial consumers exhibit different buying patterns than other age groups. Before and through the pandemic the majority of millennials have more concern for improving society than getting rich. In order to reach an individual of this demographic and mindset, the packaging should reflect values of efficiency, eco-friendliness and public safety.

Understanding consumer behavior is the main reason packaging designers should take an interest in how multisensory packaging affects consumer decisions. While every consumer makes decisions based on their own personal experiences, certain packaging themes appeal to certain market segments. Here are essential themes of multisensory packaging that designers should explore.

Consumers have a need for touch the same way retailers have a need to sell products. But it's a mistake to assume all consumers respond the same way to the same stimuli. Every individual coexists with thousands of marketing campaigns wrapped in packaging techniques trying to get their attention. Here are important points for designers to consider about multisensory perceptions among consumers when crafting a new package.

Consumers base buying decisions on what their senses, memories and emotions tell them. That's why packaging design should provide multisensory stimuli congruent with brand themes that connect with followers. Here are ways designers can apply knowledge about multisensory processes to packaging designs.

Some people call it "hardness," while others involved in packaging design use the terms "firmness and compressibility" to describe the feel when two hands squeeze a product. But distinguishing the differences between texture and hardness can be challenging due to overlapping variations. Here are points for designers to consider that take consumer perceptions of firmness and compressibility into account.