What do Europeans expect from packaging?

A European survey commissioned by All4Pack Paris and conducted by ObSoCo explains.

It’s just under a month until the start of All4Pack (14-17 November, Paris), the new packaging fair for the EMEA region organized by Comexposium, which combines the technology offer of Emballage and Manutention, bringing together for a single event state-of-the-art solutions for packaging, processing, print systems, handling, logistics and end of line.
In preparation for the upcoming fair, Comexposium has strengthened its own commitment to providing a panoramic snapshot of a complex and evolving industry that shows emerging trends and consumer expectations.
Below is a summary of one of the more interesting efforts in this campaign, the results of an exclusive survey carried out by ObSoCo that gauges the expectations of European consumers when it comes to their “packaging experience”, including functional and emotional aspects.

The questions set centre on fives areas: connected and smart packaging, e-commerce packaging, information transferred by the pack, the socalled “wow effect” associated with personalisation and limited production runs.
The results of the survey, which was conducted in May 2016 in four key countries (France, Germany, Italy and Spain), show how expectations in terms of packaging design, emotional impact and the information communicated diverge according to the respondents’ nationality and age.

“Useful” for the French, “eco-friendly” for the Germans
The survey reveals that the French are the most skeptical of the innovative component of the “packaging experience” but also the most likely to consider packaging a source of useful information.
Their approach is thus basically pragmatic, giving prime importance to economic aspects.
• 32% of French respondents see packaging mainly as “a source of product information”.
• 18% believe packaging enables them to “buy the right amount” of a product.
Germans, on the other hand, are more concerned about environmental impact:
• When it comes specifically to e-commerce, 33% of German respondents prefer “lightweight packaging” to reduce the volume of waste materials.
• For 25% of this group, packaging must be “recyclable” or “reusable”.

Italian and Spanish respondents want the packaging “of their dreams”
Compared to the French and German respondents, the Italians and Spanish are much more sensitive to the packaging’s value as an “experience”.
• For 75% of Spanish respondents and 66% of Italian ones, networked packaging represents “real progress”.
• On a scale of 0 to 10, Spanish respondents assigned a 6.5 to the “wow” effect of a personalized packaging solution, while Italians gave it a 5.1; in both groups, the result is significantly higher than the overall average (4.8).