Consumer complaints about food packaging

Abstract

Today, the public’s perception of food packaging is primarily negative, which is mostly triggered by factors such as the use of (fossil) resources, waste generation, and (marine) littering. Accordingly, the (re)design of packaging is focusing in particular on environmental sustainability (e.g., recyclability). However, it seems that in parallel, consumer experience and satisfaction continue to decline, which is reflected in numerous online complaints about packaging. Building on related European food and packaging legislation, dissatisfaction, and consumer complaint behavior (CCB) literature, this study aims to analyze online consumer complaints and identify underlying causes using the Netnography method. Over 250 complaints were collected, categorized, and evaluated based on images shared online, and as a result 12 design categories were identified that triggered significant dissatisfaction among consumers. These include food packaging that implies a higher quality or quantity of products through text-based information, design elements such as graphics, certain packaging sizes, windows, and sleeves as well as the seemingly excessive use of packaging material. The subsequent discussion shows that the consumer perspective and the legal framework have many points in common and that a different realization of the already existing requirements can avoid dissatisfaction in many cases. As a result, this study provides stakeholders from research, development, and politics with an important basis for significantly increasing consumer satisfaction along with the ecological (re)design of packaging.