IMPACT OF SIMPLIFIED PACKAGING DESIGN ON PERCEIVED ECO-FRIENDLINESS AND SUSTAINABLE BUYING INTENTION AMONG CHINESE STUDENTS

Abstract

Increased environmental awareness and sustainability-induced consumption have paved the way for packaging design to be the major factor that influences consumers by presenting them with eco-friendly products. The present research investigates the impact of minimalist packaging on the perceived green image (PGI) and purchase intention (PI) among university students in China, a group that is often connected with the sustainability consumption trend. The objective is to determine whether a product that has been packed in a minimalist way is viewed as more eco-friendly and, thus, its purchase intention is increased as opposed to that of a product in a non-minimalist package. The study carried out was a quantitative, between-subjects, experiment study, which involved 210 participants randomly assigned to either two packaging conditions. The data was collected by an online survey and were analyzed via SPSS and the PROCESS macro created by Hayes in order to find out whether PGI was a mediator that traced a correlation between packaging design, PI and PGI. The analysis led to the conclusion that minimum packaging generated about 54 percent of the variance and complete the relationship between packaging design and purchase intention in terms of PGI. This translated into a much greater score in PGI and PI (p < 0.001). The study contributes to the literature on the topic by showing the ways in which visual simplicity can be used as a selling point of a sustainable choice and it offers marketers an idea of how to combine minimalist beauty with environmental concerns in designing a pack structure.