Packaging and Consumers


Mission statement

To provide a forum for exchanging views and ideas on consumer-packaging interaction research including:
  • Human factors research (methodology)
  • Consumer research (methodology)
  • User-centered packaging design

Leader:


Virpi Korhonen, Managing Director, Package Testing & Research Ltd.
virpi.korhonen@ptr.fi

Co-Leader
Helle Antvorskov, consultant, Danish Technological Institute



Actions and progress
The idea for a Packaging and consumers working group emerged during the 2009 IAPRI event at Clemson University. A LinkedIn group was formed that currently has over 40 members. At the 2011 event in Berlin an inaugural meeting was held that was well-attended. Potential research collaboration was explored. A well-attended meeting during the Cal Poly conference followed. Currently, options for a special issue of Packaging Technology and Science are explored.

Online
http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=1960535

More information
Although there is a steady stream of contribution at IAPRI events on human factors research and market research which focused on the touch points of packaging and consumers/users, the scientific packaging world has been engineering and technology-dominated. Also in scientific journals on packaging, user-centered topics form a minority of the contributions.

This CoP tries to bring together those researchers who are working on the relationship between packaging and people, in the belief that they share a common interest as well as common research methodologies.

By forming a Community of Practice we strive to stimulate collaboration and to increase quality and quantity of the research done on packaging and consumers within the IAPRI community.

Topics cover:
  • Develop and improve methods of studying packaging-consumer interaction (for marketing, ergonomics, ethnographic)
  • Exchange knowledge on packaging-consumer interaction
  • Translating gained insights into guidelines for design (and validation of those guidelines)
  • Human factors, or ergonomics aspects, e.g. legibility of labels on medicine packaging, or openability of (tamperproof) packaging.
  • Marketing research and consumer views, e.g. development in eye-tracking methodology, or consumers' views on sustainable packaging.