Problems With Packaging
Packaging is a crucial element in the marketing of a product, as it is essentially the casing that the produt comes in. So after all the advertising and promotion, when customers go to the store and pick up the product, it is only the packaging that they see, smell, and touch. It is thus extremely important for the marketer to ensure that potential customers like what they see. The packaging should be appropriate to the product, and induce customers to buy it.
Unfortunately, ethics play a large role in the problems with packaging and labeling. Many of the ethical issues are related to the environment, labels, graphics, and safety. Packaging needs to provide a certain amount of information to the consumer, depending on the type of product. For instance, a beverage needs to provide information on the product name, its size, and its nutritional content. In contrast, the packaging of a toy needs to provide the age range suitable for children to play with it.
In packaging, the most common issues that arise include:
Problems With Label Information
Sometimes marketers use label information to mislead consumers by providing untrue information to exaggerate the attributes of their product. Labels that display nutrition information like low fat, fat free , cholesterol free, and 100% pure juice are examples.
Misleading Labelling
Often, products will have words such as "fat free", "low-fat", or "organic" on the labels. Labels such as these may mislead the customer into thinking something that may not be the case. For example, they may think there are no calories in a product, when in fact there are many.
Problems With Packaging Graphics
There are many cases in which marketers use pictures in packaging that do not represent the actual product. For example, packaging may make a certain product look nice and attractive, but the actual product may not be as good as depicted once opened. In addition, some store brands or other small brands try to imitate the way big brands package their products. This leads to confusion among consumers.
Problems With Packaging Safety
Consumers are concerned with packaging safety issues, especially when it comes to products for children. Marketers should avoid unsafe packaging that uses high ingredients of chemicals that are unsuitable for young children and are not tamper-proof.
Problems With Environmental Issues
Some marketers tend to label their products as environmentally friendly. However, the products actually do not have environmentally friendly attributes. For example, degradable trash bags actually remain intact for decades in a landfill. Packaging and labeling also produce a lot of excess waste that just gets thrown out once the consumer has purchased the product. In addition, the work that goes into producing the packaging and labeling is wasted once the consumer has purchased the product. It goes into the trash and is never seen of or thought of again.