Packaging as a Competitive Advantage : How Companies can use Packaging as a Marketing Stimuli to Break trough the Clutter

Today’s competitive climate in grocery stores makes it important for companies to differentiate their products from others. Companies choose to market their products with packaging as a strategy. We wanted to look further on how this strategy works and if it is beneficial. Therefore we found it interesting to investigate how consumers select their items when shopping. The study has a qualitative approach and we have via two focus groups collected the data needed to accomplish this thesis. The focus groups were made with students currently attending Luleå University of Technology. The findings and conclusions indicated that a product picture is the main objective when communicating a promotional message to customers with packaging. There are several of studies and research made in the field of packaging, but there are limitations in the field of packaging and its connection to competitiveness. However it seems to be a big deal for consumers to feel attracted to a certain product, how the package is designed and what kind of feelings it associates.Validerat; 20110821 (anonymous