Josephine Lerche Ruders - 3rd year PhD presentation

Discussants: John Thøgersen & Violeta Stancu
Supervisors: Anne Odile Peschel & Sascha Steinmann

Title
Preference, Quality, or Sustainability? Addressing Competing Goals Through Product Packaging

Abstract
More sustainable packaging solutions are needed as packaging waste continues to pose a serious environmental challenge. However, consumers consider sustainable packaging alongside other factors, such as price and product quality, which often carry greater weight in their choices. Drawing on a goal-based theoretical perspective, this study examines how packaging and product attributes influence consumer choice across three evaluative conditions: overall preference, perceived quality, and sustainability. It investigates how implicit and explicit packaging cues communicate different product benefits, particularly in relation to sustainability. A discrete choice experiment involving 1,423 U.S. consumers examines choices among milk alternatives varying in packaging shape, material, sustainability claims, product type, brand, and price. The data are analyzed using latent class choice modeling. Results reveal significant differences in attribute utilities and relative attribute importance across the three conditions. When sustainability is the focal goal, packaging material is the most important attribute, followed by price, packaging shape, and sustainability claims. In contrast, when the goal is to evaluate quality, brand, price, and product type are most important, while price and packaging shape matter most in the overall preference condition. The study contributes to research on goal-dependent consumer choice by demonstrating how evaluative goals influence the importance of packaging attributes in consumer choice. It also provides practical guidance for retailers on communicating sustainability through packaging and designing retail environments that encourage more sustainable consumer choices. 

Keywords: Sustainable packaging; consumer choice; goal-based theory; packaging design; implicit and explicit cues; discrete choice experiment

Everyone is welcome!