The Impact of Plastic Product Packaging on Consumer Perception: With Special Reference to the Sri Lankan Food and Beverage Industry

Abstract

The food and beverage industry has become one of the major contributor to the growth of all the economies. In Sri Lanka also, food and beverage industry has become as a thriving sector in the economy. Packaging has become as an essential medium for preserving food and beverage quality, reducing food and beverage wastage while acting as an information provider. Plastic packaging comprises the highest portion of total packaging material market share. In Sri Lanka, plastic waste is arisen day by day. People can reduce the plastic waste to some extent by re-using packages. But consumers do not re-use plastic product packaging. Harmonization of product packaging positively influence on consumers’ perception of usability of product packaging. The main research objective of this study therefore is to investigate the impact of plastic product packaging on consumer perception. The research was carried out by using quantitative method and questionnaire was distributed among consumers who are in Colombo district. The developed hypotheses were tested using data collected from 384 respondents through an online survey. After collecting primary data from the proposed sample, the gathered data were analyzed by using Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) and ran a Correlation and regression analysis. The findings of this study show that packaging form harmonize, packaging color harmonize, packaging material harmonize, packaging size harmonize and separable packaging label have significant and positive relationship with consumers’ perception of plastic product packaging. All variables have significant and positive impact on consumers’ perception of plastic product packaging. According to the findings of this study, marketers and package designers need to take necessary actions to improve package usability.