THE IMPORTANCE OF PACKAGING COMMUNICATION INTERFACES ON INTENTION TO PURCHASE SUPERFOODS HEALTHY PRODUCTS: TAPPING TO RISING HEALTHY FOOD TRENDS IN TIMES OF COVIT-19 EPIDEMIC

Abstract

One mega customer trend in modern marketing has been the interest in total well-being and holistic health conscious particularly driven by COVID-19 raising production opportunities. Pertaining to this coronavirus pandemic situation, the biggest innovation opportunity is healthy indulgence. In particular, the impact of Covid-19 on Superfoods Market has been representing incremental growth since the last few years. Due to the rise in healthcare and medical expenses for evolving epidemic lifestyle customers, food innovation and medical discoveries are expected to reinforce the preference for superfoods among contemporary consumers. Simultaneously, urban customers leveraged their demand for nutrient-rich, natural food that contains essential minerals and vitamins in view of the rising health concerns and disease lifestyles. Superfoods, thus, have become a common dietary products among the expanding geriatric populace that requires immunity boosting products, thereby facilitating significant market expansion. Along with all the extensive key development tools in the superfoods market, packaging communication interfaces are now widely acknowledged as a potential means of deliveries better product value on the customers’ perspectives. In rapid urbanization, food packaging solutions that are commonly versatile and environmentally friendly. Communication through the prominence of food packaging generates not only visually appealing but also providing product knowledge and rising brand awareness among customers. As a consequence, the growing influence of the packaging communication tools and their technological developments as those tools provide extensive information are encouraging consumers to selecting superfoods.The possible success of superfoods is undoubtedly based on how packaging communication interfaces can influence customer purchase intention. This study, therefore, aims to explore the role of packaging communication interfaces in terms of packaging visualization, packaging photography, packaging color, packaging printed information, packaging labelling, packaging materials and packaging innovation enhancing customer intention to purchase superfoods. The data collection employed a survey method with structured questionnaires which were distributed to 400 respondents who purchased superfoods products through several channels of online and offline markets. The results of the study supported that seller and buyer interactions through packaging communication tools had potential to strengthen customer demand for consuming superfoods products. Out of the seven packaging communication interfaces, while five factors including packaging visual communication, packaging photography,

packaging printed information, packaging labelling and packaging innovation were determined to influence customers to purchasing superfoods, packaging color and packaging materials did not showed positively relationship with intention to purchase superfoods products.