1 Introduction1.1 Background of study In this competitive market, a product’s appearance plays a vital role in promoting itself and delivering the service to the consumer.

A product’s colour, quality, packaging and other characteristics are the major considerations of the consumer. Thus, the price tag of the product is no more the main causes of consumer purchasing something as compared to the older days. Different type of packaging element will affect the consumer’s behaviour while purchasing it. According to colour psychology, colour diversity of a product will have an impact on consumers while purchasing a product. Therefore, the same product but different brands are produced in different colours or pattern to attract consumers.Other than that, there are many good products on the market but not being appreciated by the consumers.

This is because their product’s packaging has failed to capture consumers’ attention. Most of the company only focus on developing their products quality or functionality but overlook the packaging or the design of a product. This is one of the reasons that some good products do not have a good amount of sales as compared to those products that have better packaging design. (Research has proved that), consumers will end up buying something which looks good but without realising the quality or price of it. The appearance of the package is believed to have a strong impact on the influencing consumers’ purchase decision than advertising (Mutsikiwa and Marumbwa, 2013). So, it is important to let the designers and manufacturer begin to work together while producing a product.  1.2 Statement of Problem In the past decades, many companies’ marketing strategy does not focus on their product packaging as their product has monopoly the consumers market.

However, the market now has become more and more competitive as the same product can be created and sold by other companies too. According to Ksenia (2013) “one of the marketing tools that have become popular and important is packaging which allows companies to be different from each other and to have more priorities among competitors”. An Attractive packaging of a product can catch consumer’s attention easily and give them a chance to stand out against other competitors.

Hence, the marketing team are always trying to blend in the new design of their products within a period of time to attract new consumers. A tough competition in the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) products has reflected that companies are now starting to focus on designing their product packaging. To create an attractive packaging of a product, there are many elements need to be considered such as colour, material and position of brand name and logo. These little details are the sparks to ignite consumer’s interest on choosing their products.      1.3 Purpose of Study The purpose of this study is to explore the packaging impact on the consumers buying decision, product-related judgements and attitude. Besides, this study is to identify the importance of the appearance of a product.

In addition, this study is to explore why a designer and a manufacturer should work together on making a product. Last but not least, this study is to find out which elements of the package affect the most on consumer’s decision making. 1.4 Research Question1.       Which factor has the most effect on the consumer decision-making process when purchasing an item?2.       What is the impact of packaging elements on the buying behaviour of consumers?3.       What causes the consumer to purchase the certain item even it is overpricing? 2 Literature Review2.

1 Appearance of the productThe appearance of a product is basically presenting itself to the consumers and representing the image of the company. A unique and iconic appearance of a product is needed for the consumer to easily differentiate company’s product from other competitors. According to a study by Ahmad, Billo and Lakhan (2012), the appearance of a product is the last impression for consumers and they make purchasing decisions on the basis of product’s appearance which built a perception in the consumer’s mind. Therefore it is significant to know that the appearance of a product is working hard to secure the sale.

The elements which will affect the appearance of the product are packaging material, packaging colour, the design of the wrapper, innovation, printed information and the ambassador of the product.  2.1.1 Packaging MaterialAny material used which able to protect the product and maintain the freshness of the product is known as packaging material. A high-quality material of packaging can gain trust from consumer towards a product.

Thus, to avoid loss, the material of packaging should be improved. 2.1.2 Packaging ColourIn order to meet the needs of consumers, the various colour of packaging is produced in the market. A product came out with different kind of colours allow the consumer to have variety choice and affect the consumer’s decision. Moreover, colour can make brand distinctive as compared to all the other competing brands, if the company became able to use a colour which other competing brands cannot opt easily. (Keller, 2009) 2.

1.3 Design of the WrapperDesign of the wrapper is an incredibly significant medium because it has such a huge impact on a consumer’s decision making. Applying Eye-catching graphics or pattern in the design can attracts the consumer’s attraction.

Hence, the companies made a big effort on creating an attractive design so that the consumers would notice and touch the product.2.1.4 InnovationBringing innovation in the packaging design also increase the value of the product like easy open, recyclable, easy store, breakability, childproof, eco-friendly, etc. in the consumer mind (Shah et al.

, 2013).  2.1.5 Printed InformationThere are consumers that pay more attention to the printed information since they are more concerned with health and nutrition issues (Coulson, N.S.

, 2000). The more accurate information about the product, the consumer will be more reliant on it and possibly made the second purchase. 2.1.6 Ambassador of the Product Athletes or celebrities advertising products has become a common way of promotion.

Turning fans to the consumer can quicken the market growth and make the product to be more familiar. Purchasing a product promoted by an admired celebrity or athlete, the consumer will gain trust and be more bias to that product. 2.2 Consumer’s Purchasing BehaviourConsumer’s purchasing behaviour refers to the act of purchasing of certain product or service.

Normally, consumers do not spend much too much time thinking about buying impulsive low-value products. In this case, the companies focus on ways that encourage impulsive purchase from them rather than competitors. To attract the consumers, an outstanding appearance is needed. Therefore, companies putting effort on upgrading the appearance of the product while increasing the sales of the product indirectly.