Shoppers overlook sustainability seals on grocery packaging

Eco-conscious or not, most grocery shoppers don’t notice sustainability branding on product packaging, a new study finds.

QuadPackaging, a Franklin, Wis.-based packaging solution provider, teamed up with Clemson University research partner Package Insight to see if a visual sustainability rating system placed on the front of grocery packages influenced shopper behavior.

For the QuadPackaging SPC Impact 2018 study, participants representing various customer profiles used mobile eye-tracking technology to shop a range of categories in a typical grocery store setting in Clemson’s retail lab. Generic package designs were devised for each category — frozen food, pasta, beverages, snack and health care — and QuadPackaging and Package InSight created a sustainability logo with an A-B-C grading system.

Of the test shoppers, 92% said they didn’t notice the sustainability logos on the grocery packages. The result came even though over 40% claimed sustainability influences their buying decisions, and 53% indicated that a simple rating system would impact their purchase, researchers noted.

"These results are not surprising if you take into account the barrage of logos, seals and stamps found on consumer package goods claiming some form of sustainability," Paul Nowak, senior director of sales strategy and business development at QuadPackaging, said in a statement.

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Logos competing for placement and real estate on product packaging include USDA Organic, Non-GMO Verified, product-specific certifications, nutrition facts, how-to-recycle symbols and QR codes, among others, the study pointed out.

"Consumers have become numb to all the messaging on packaging, which hinders the penetration of sustainability claims,” Nowak explained.

In the post-shopping survey, study participants ranked product categories in which they think more about sustainability. Food (73%) and beverages (67%), were cited by most of the test shoppers, followed by household paper goods, cleaning products, health care, pet products, apparel and baby care — which were named by 40% or fewer participants.

"People buy with their eyes," according to Julie Rice, associate director at Package InSight, which studies package performance, consumer attention and shelf impact. "Using the eye-tracking technology in this study allowed us to provide insight into what draws an observer's attention and cognitive process. In this case, there was little interest in the sustainability logos."

Consumer packaged goods companies recognize the public support and corporate rewards for sustainability, and they feel sustainability claims on packaging are important, the study said. The problem is accommodating all the required brand and regulatory information in limited space on product packaging. At the same time, nine out of 10 consumers make a purchase decision after looking at only the front of a package.

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QuadPackaging and Package InSight concluded that it would be more effective for CPG companies to focus on integrated marketing campaigns that educate customers about their sustainability efforts and explain what their sustainability claims mean.

"It might be important to your brand to include these logos,” Nowak added, “but you don't need prime packaging real estate. Awareness and education are more important to get through to consumers.”