The hedonistic consumer and how appealing packaging can promote environmental and social goals
Consumers today are more selective than they were a few years ago. They are increasingly consuming what is good for them or what they believe is good for them. In other words: many modern consumers are hedonists, they consume according to the pleasure principle. But what exactly does this mean and how can brands do justice to this trend when designing product packaging? Let’s talk a little about this.
What characterises the modern hedonistic consumer?
The term hedonism comes from ancient Greek and translates as pleasure or delight. A hedonistically-minded person orients their life towards pleasure. They strive for everything that makes them feel good. Especially when it comes to food, hedonistic behaviour has been in vogue for some time now.
Influence of hedonism on visual trends
Hedonism, which places indulgence and pleasure at the centre of lifestyle, has a strong influence on visual trends in the food industry. Visual representations that emphasise opulent and tempting indulgence appeal to consumers’ hedonistic tendencies and reinforce their purchasing decisions. This can be seen in the aesthetics of advertising campaigns, social media content and gastronomic presentations, where visual appeal is often a decisive factor for success.
Food sculptures in visuals
The art of food sculpture is a remarkable trend that reflects hedonism in food presentation. Consumers are visually seduced by elaborate and aesthetically pleasing arrangements of food. These sculptures not only serve as eye-catchers, but also reinforce the feeling of luxury and indulgence.
Oozing trend
Another trend is the “oozing trend”, in which particularly appetising close-up shots of overflowing food are shown. Images of cheese flowing out of a burger or syrup pouring over pancakes symbolise abundance and seduction and appeal to the hedonistic longing for sensual pleasure.
Opulence and decadence
The visual presentation of food often reflects opulence and decadence. Tables overloaded with a variety of dishes and desserts convey a feeling of “more than enough” and excessive indulgence. These images appeal to the need for luxurious and sumptuous experiences, which is used particularly in advertising and catering.
Hedonism and renunciation
But anyone who assumes that modern hedonistic consumers are constantly snacking on chocolates and other sugar bombs or preparing their food with extra fat is mistaken. In the DACH region, but also in the rest of Europe, the new hedonistic eating culture also includes the component of omission.
For some, this may seem like a sacrifice. But that’s not how it should be seen. In the wake of other emerging trends, what consumers actually find pleasurable and enjoyable when eating has also changed considerably. And increasingly these are foods that help the body stay in good shape.
In short, today’s hedonistic consumer is practising a kind of healthy hedonism. They combine pleasure with health-promoting foods and health-promoting foods with pleasure – and look for individual solutions to put this special hedonistic lifestyle into practice. The same applies to the sustainability trend.
This clearly observable development has already created a good basis for convincing consumers with products that focus on health and/or sustainability in its various facets. However, there are of course still many “classic” hedonists who have so far been unimpressed by overarching goals for themselves and their environment and simply (continue to) consume what they have come to know as delicious, even if this means harming themselves, others and/or nature.
As a company in the food industry that is consciously orientated towards the health and sustainability trend, what can you do to turn traditional consumers into modern hedonistic consumers, i.e. to whet their appetite for healthy and sustainable hedonism?
How do you awaken the desire for healthy and sustainable hedonism?
There are basically two approaches: a positive and a negative one. The negative approach is (unfortunately) still the dominant one and looks like this: People try to force the need to support the realisation of overriding goals on consumers by instilling fear, so to speak.
A typical example: “We must avoid plastic because otherwise the great climate catastrophe will occur.”
However, if you look around and have a bit of psychological knowledge, you will see that negative associations and fear generally do not result in the desired behaviour.
We can also use a very simple phenomenon that is probably familiar to everyone: say to yourself: “I am NOT thinking about the polar bears dying out as a result of climate change.” What happens? Images of suffering polar bears will probably immediately spring to mind. Our brain can’t do anything with the word “not”. That’s why you should always motivate yourself to make the changes you want with positive affirmations.
In principle, it is the same with the envisaged profound transformation of classic into modern hedonistic consumers.
Example: If you want to convince consumers to buy vegan products, you essentially have two options:
1. you can propagate that animal products, especially meat, are bad and unhealthy. = negative
2. you can advertise that vegan products taste delicious, are good for your health and also protect both animal welfare and the environment. = positive
Both campaigns or strategies have the same goal, but try to approach it in completely different ways. In view of psychological findings and the perceptible developments in the market, it is obvious that the positive approach will ultimately always be more successful than the negative approach.
What does this mean for the design of packaging?
Quite simply: we should provide packaging with inviting rather than repulsive messages, i.e. design it with a positive connotation. In this way, we can guide hedonistic consumers towards healthy and sustainable products without forcing them. Positively presented messages are motivating because they trigger optimism in the recipient.
In this way – and only in this way – do we really have the chance to inspire many people for overarching goals and bring about behavioural changes that are just as healthy and sustainable as the products that your company wants to sell successfully.
And another thing: once the majority of consumers have come to accept the “good”, so will those companies that currently still rely on the approval of classic hedonists.
At B+P Creality, we always design packaging according to consumer needs. To do this, we analyse the target group of the respective brand and look at what is important to them and what is generally well received in the market. And fortunately, these are increasingly things that protect our planet and improve our quality of life.
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