Abstract
Copy design refers to the aspects of the imagery and design of a products’ package. The purpose of copy design is to influence the consumers’ purchasing decision process at the point of sale, and serves no other functionality. Research investigating the measurement of the impact on consumers of the impression of a copy design for a food product is limited. There is no recognised methodology in the literature or within the food industry that looks at this process. The objective of this research was to validate a methodology for determining the effectiveness of a copy design’s ability to influence a consumers’ purchasing decision at the point of sale.
The methodology involved consumer focus group research to study the impact and impression of copy design for four original product labels. Participants provided consumer input into label design improvements. The effectiveness of this consumer led approach to copy design was put to the test in the second stage of the research. A consumer survey was conducted to quantify intent of purchase for a product when given choices between an original and improved label designs. This approach would then enable validation of the hypothesis that we can measure the effectiveness of copy design on its ability to influence a consumers purchase decision.
New Zealand Honey Specialities (NZHS) helped fund the project and provided the test product; a bottled Manuka honey and lemon beverage concentrate, (Health Drink). The company provided four different ‘original’ product label designs for the study.
Six focus groups each with six female participants, who were all parents of primary school age children, were conducted at three local schools in the North Dunedin area. The participants were asked to evaluate and provide opinion on the initial impression and impact of four original product label designs (ORA, ORB, ORC, ORD) and to provide suggestions for the re-designs or improvements.
Results from the focus groups suggested many elements in all four original label designs could be improved, for example many participants suggested the imagery should be changed to more realistic graphics, while others suggested colours and fonts of the label needed to be improved. The consumers’ recommendations were analysed and incorporated into the design for four improved versions of the product labels (IMA, IMB, IMC, IMD).
The original four label designs (ORA, ORB, ORC, ORD) and the four improved versions (IMA, IMB, IMC, IMD) were presented to consumers in a simulated purchase situation. The survey or field trial involved 250 consumers and was conducted outside a local supermarket situated in the same geographical area as where the focus groups were conducted. Consumers were presented with four sets of product labels marked as Label A and Label B. A and B represented a paired set of labels where A was an original label design and B an improved label design, for example a pair combination could have been ‘ORA’ and ‘IMC’. Consumers were asked to inspect the labels and indicate on a line scale which product they would be more likely to purchase. A ‘Latin Square’ experimental design was used to randomise the order of presentation of the 16 different paired combinations of label designs.
Results were analysed using analysis of the difference between the means, ANOVA and Tukey’s Post Hoc test. Results revealed a significant difference existed between the improved product designs and the original designs at the 95% level of confidence for A & C label designs and 99% level of confidence for B & D label designs. After an analysis of the difference between means it was found in each A, B, C, and D pair, that the improved label design was preferred over it’s ‘original’ equivalent in terms of consumers’ intent to purchase based on the label design.
This result validated that consumer input into copy design and the Latin Square experimental design are effective research tools for evaluating copy design. The outcome of this research has shown that through the combined use of the qualitative methodology of focus groups and the quantitative methodology of a consumer survey designed using the Latin Square experimental design approach, the influence of copy design on consumers’ choice when presented with similar product labels within a category, at the point of sale can be effectively measured.