Abstract
Active and intelligent packaging are novel packaging technologies that can improve food products’ quality and safety outcomes by enhancing packaging’s protection and communication functionality compared to conventional packaging. The New Zealand food export industry is also interested in utilising active and intelligent packaging for their export products going to China, but little is known of the motivation behind this and the challenges they face in commercialising these packaging technologies. There is also scant information about the Chinese consumer perceptions of these packaging technologies and their influence on food choice and consumer confidence in food products enhanced with active and/or intelligent packaging. This thesis investigated New Zealand industry and Chinese consumer perceptions of active and intelligent packaging and the subsequent influence of these perceptions on industry technology choices and consumer food choices.
Four studies were completed, utilising both qualitative and quantitative research approaches: (i) industry interviews (n=15) were conducted to investigate the motives, barriers, and other factors that influence the industry uptake of active and intelligent packaging, (ii) focus groups with Chinese consumers (n=24) were conducted to understand the breadth of consumer perceived benefits and concerns about the use of active and intelligent packaging on food products, (iii) best-worst scaling and structural equation modelling were used within an online survey (n=702) to clarify which of the benefits and concerns were most influential on purchase intent as well as profiling consumer purchase intent based on socio-demographic and psychographic variables, and finally (iv) an eye-tracking experiment (n=71) with concept prototypes developed from the online survey results was used to measure consumer explicit and implicit perceptions of and confidence in finished products enhanced with active and intelligent packaging.
The results indicated that parts of the New Zealand industry are interested in investing in active and intelligent packaging, but that interest varied depending on macro, sector, and business factors. The desired benefits by industry were to improve product quality and safety, and improve product traceability, security, and authenticity perceptions. There were several barriers, in addition to the barrier generated by an industry focus on adjusting their packaging technologies to those that favour a more circular material cycle over single-use material.
Chinese consumers were revealed to be generally receptive of active and intelligent packaging, with some prepared to pay a premium for products with those technologies. Perceived benefits such as the additional information on the condition and history of the product as well as feeling more confident and reassured about the product quality were most valued by Chinese consumers. However, familiarity with the technologies was low and thus, providing additional communication about the technologies on pack was also deemed important. Cluster analysis identified only two Chinese consumer segments: Indifferent and Enthusiastic, separated primarily on their general attitudes rather than a socio-demographic profile. Behavioural reasoning theory also provided good explanatory power for purchase intentions. Finally, consumers had more trust, belief in authenticity, confidence in and willingness to purchase most food products presented that incorporated active or intelligent packaging over conventional packaging. This result provided evidence that if active and intelligent packaging were used with New Zealand food export products, they sometimes improved consumer confidence.
A consumer-orientated approach to obtain an understanding of Chinese consumer purchase intent of and confidence in imported food products enhanced with active and intelligent packaging has been demonstrated in this thesis. This thesis also provides practical insights to the New Zealand food export industry on levels of consumer purchase intent and how to focus communication efforts to maximise preference for food products enhanced with active and intelligent packaging.