AUTHOR
Nilsson, Johan; Öström, Tobias

DEPARTMENT
Business Administration and Social Sciences / Industrial marketing and e-commerce

SUMMARY
In the ever increasing competition of today’s global market the need for effective product promotion is crucial. Product packaging has come to play a more important role as a brand communication vehicle. Little research has been conducted within this area making the purpose of this thesis to provide a better understanding of how product packaging is used as a brand communication vehicle. In order to reach this purpose, specific research questions focused on how the elements of the package design affect consumer’s perception of the brand and what benefits they associate with the brand’s packaging. The data was collected through focus group interviews with male students as one case study and female students as the other. The findings indicate that there is no apparent difference in how men and women perceive product packaging. The study further indicates that the elements of the package design affect consumer perception differently depending on how they are combined. The findings also suggest that consumers associate different benefits to different packaging designs, depending on both internal and external variables.

ISSN 1404-5508 / ISRN LTU-SHU-EX--05/038--SE / NR 2005:038