Proceedings | Marketing area | Year 2016
 

"Why they buy": Impacts of packaging elements on children decision making

by Palita U-Prasitwong; Phallapa Petison
  
  2016 Prague International Academic Conference on Business & Economics in Prague, Czech Republic

Abstract

Nowadays there has been rising in marketing's awareness and targeting children as consumers. To penetrate into this powerful market, marketers intentionally target in product packaging design because it works very well with diversified-need market like children market. The main objective of this study is to reveal how packaging elements of toothpaste effect children's buying decision. A total of 19 children aged between 7-11 years who go to shopping with parents were interviewed. The study shows that visual packaging elements have strong impact on children's product segmentation. Among all visual elements, the graphic including; cartoon characters and brand characters (e.g. brand logo, brand symbol), play the most important role for children; following by color, size, and packaging design. In additional, some verbal elements also effect children's product classification; for example, brand name, flavor, etc. Results show that the younger, 7-8 years give priority to cartoon characters and color while the older, 9-11 years tend to pay more attention on products information details such as toothpaste type, product instruction, and provided free gift when making purchasing decisions.