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Tantalizing research

Posted by Chandler Slavin on Oct 16, 2012 5:04:00 PM

HELLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO my packaging and sustainability friends!

I can’t believe it has been so long since my last post! A LOT has happened at Dordan, which is why I have been so neglectful! Where should I start…

Well first, we broke ground for Dordan’s Victory Garden!!!! For those of you who don’t know, Dordan is donating the use of a portion of its land to a local organics farmer, who intends to use our land to grow produce for the local community next spring. This farmer supplies organics to several community restaurants, who pride themselves on providing locally sourced foodstuff for the socially and environmental conscious consumer. While at first Emily, the organic farmer, intended to plow the plot, it turns out a rotary till or what not sufficed! Here is Phil, Emily’s dad (and also the gent who helped us construct our composter), tilling the soil:



And a closer shot of the tiller in action:



It was a lot of work, but after a couple hours they had plowed probably a quarter of the entire plot, which is almost an acre. They plan to finish half of the plot before the ground gets too hard to till and then finish the rest in early spring.

We are also in the process of researching rain barrels, which we intend to place next to our facility to collect the rainwater runoff from our roof to use to water the garden come summer. Phil says he is going to teach me how to use a hose as a medium for irrigation, as the plot curves gently downhill; therefore, we can use gravity to pull the water from our rain barrels via the hose to the thirsty vegetables. Cool beans!

SOOOO I finished my research report on how package design dictates product sales. I think it is super duper good, not to tout my own horn or anything. This is the result of almost a months worth of research and attempts to illuminate that the role packaging plays in consumer purchasing decisions. We are using this “white paper” in our last outgoing advertising for the year, which is the December Packaging World New Issue Alert. For some reason I don’t want to post it to my blog just yet, as it is scheduled to be distributed to the 70,000+ Packaging World subscribers on December 9th. Therefore, after its “launch” I will post it here for you, my packaging and sustainability friends. However, check out the introduction:

Consumer Research Report
How Package Design Dictates Product Sales: “Seeing it Sells it!”
By Chandler Slavin, Marketing Manager,
Dordan Manufacturing Co. Inc.

Packaging for a product is more than a medium of protection and storage or another convenient forum for advertising. Due to the significant investments made by marketers on the packaging of their products, one would have to assume that industry believes packaging to have substantial influence on consumer choice behavior and product experience. Despite this, there is little academic literature studying these interactions and no clear theory of exactly how packaging impacts consumers’ attitudes and actions. For example,
Does packaging influence consumers’ willingness-to-pay? Does it impact their brand choice? Do different kinds of packaging evoke different reactions in consumers? Are there external manifestations of these reactions in terms of their purchasing behavior?

Through a discussion of contemporary consumer and market research, we seek to answer some of these questions. In particular, we (1) discover how package design informs consumers’ perception of the product and brand; (2) discuss how said perceptions dictate consumer purchasing behavior; and (3) determine how to capitalize on these elements in order to increase product sales and product/brand loyalty.

Have I sparked your interest? Are you just chomping at the bit for MORE MORE MORE?

AND I leave for Atlanta on Tuesday for my presentation at Sustainable Plastic Packaging on recycling thermoforms. YIKES.

Let’s talk tomorrow.

Tootles!

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