Abstract
Despite an apparent scarcity of studies on the role of packaging design in innovation and marketing research (Luchs et al. 2016), integrating a practical functionality into a packaging can enhance the whole consumer experience of how products are used. Within the product design literature, functionality has been described as a set of potential benefits that a product delivers to the user during consumption (Ziamou and Ratneshwar 2003). However, looking at the majority of studies that focus on product packaging functions and their associated benefits, it becomes obvious that this notion of packaging functionality is characterized by an inherent passivity that is not connected with the act of using a product, implying a very narrow understanding of package functionality. We propose that packaging functionality can have two roles: First, packaging functionality can be passive, meaning that the benefits stemming from the packaging are not directly linked to the goals associated with the actual consumption of the product. Second, package functionality can be active, implying that the packaging itself holds a functionality that actively supports users in achieving their consumption goals. The aim of this paper is to introduce the concept of active packaging functionality and to provide first empirical evidence on how it influences consumers’ product and firm evaluations. In order to achieve our research goals, we present two experimental studies. The first study tests the influence of active packaging functionality (vs. passive packaging functionality) in an online setting (n = 230, 63.9% female; M = 32.67 years). In our second study, we use a point-of-sale experimental setting to validate and further explore the role of active packaging functionality (n = 125, 63.3% female; M = 39.61 years). Our results show that active packaging functionality leads to more positive product perceptions and to increased purchase intention. Moreover, our findings show that active packaging functionality was associated with a perceived higher innovation ability of the offering firm.