Packaging personalization in the Food industry: an analysis of motivations, attitudes, and methods

The paper aims to investigate the motivations and purchasing behavior of a product in the food sector with personalized packaging, and the interest in packaging personalization typologies. The study may be interesting because packaging personalization in the food industry can increase brand loyalty and address the commodity trap. Methodologically, the study was conducted by carrying out quantitative research with 642 valid surveys administered through Google Forms. The analysis revealed some significant diversities; in particular, based on the interest in packaging personalization modalities, “Insert initials” is the most significant. Based on attitude, it appears that those who are most interested, generally show greater interest in different types of personalization than those who are not interested. Regarding motivation, respondents would like to purchase products/services with personalized packaging “To make a personal gift to someone they care about”. From a managerial point of view, the results highlight that companies should accurately segment and identify customers who are interested in having personalized packaging for themselves, offering opportunities to make a gift and providing very personalized packaging. Future developments in this study may be directed toward understanding the impact of different typologies of personalization on commodities and delving deeper into those interested in personalization.