Sustainable Packaging: The Influence of Glass Container Reuse Marks on Consumer Perceptions.

Details

Supervisors

Pleyers, Gordy

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to study the influence of reuse marks on consumer perception of the product. In order to determine whether the reuse mark has an impact on consumers, we compared bottles of white wine, red wine, beer, juice and a jar of applesauce. First, the literature review helped us understand consumers' perceptions of sustainable companies, sustainable packaging, glass containers and the principles of the circular economy. We then identified various factors that influence consumer attitudes and decisions towards eco-responsible products. These included perceived aesthetics, perceived product quality, perceived eco-responsibility and purchase intention. This analysis also enabled us to identify the link between the 3 product perception factors and the intention to purchase a reused product. Secondly, an exploratory study was carried out. Analysis of the results of this study led to the conclusion that the presence of reuse marks on glass containers in the wine, juice and applesauce categories is not perceived as less aesthetic than containers without them. However, the opposite was observed for the beer category. In addition, glass containers bearing reuse marks were not perceived as being of lower quality in the wine, juice and applesauce categories. On the other hand, a beer bottle bearing a reuse mark was perceived as being of poorer quality than a bottle without one. The results also revealed that the presence of reuse marks had no significant impact on consumers' perception of eco-responsibility, and that the presence of reuse marks had no positive influence on consumers' purchase intentions in any of the product categories examined. However, all the factors studied, namely aesthetic perception, perceived quality and perceived eco-responsibility, were found to predict consumer purchase intentions for reused products. Aesthetic perception was the most significant predictor of purchase intention, followed by perceived quality and perceived eco-responsibility.