How much does product packaging influence your purchase?

[joeypots]

I tend to be dismissive of packaging. When I see a person carrying a new purchase in a custom shopping bag with a bow I think they bought the sizzle, not the steak. Monte Cristo As got me though. I like the five pack box I have, so I'm not immune.

[Colt45]

I suppose for me it goes both ways - I might be lured in by a certain style of packaging while repelled by others. For example, I would not consider buying the crystal skull vodka because of the bottle.

P.S. for what it's worth, my general take with these type of things is that fashions come and go, but classic never goes out of style.

[Abdullah]

I think the packaging affects us more than we think guys!! That's why the manufacturers spend so much money on it.

[Cigar Surgeon]

Somewhere around 0% when we're talking about consumables like spirits or cigars. Taste is almost the entire reason I'm buying it, and the packaging is irrelevant to me.

[Colt45]

34 minutes ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

Somewhere around 0% when we're talking about consumables like spirits or cigars. Taste is almost the entire reason I'm buying it, and the packaging is irrelevant to me.

So purely for conversation's sake, if your favorite "premium" (I hate that term) spirit became available only - both in retail and bars - in plastic milk style jugs, you'd not care either way?

[CooGAR]

16 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

So purely for conversation's sake, if your favorite "premium" (I hate that term) spirit became available only - both in retail and bars - in plastic milk style jugs, you'd not care either way?

Nope.  As long was when you see me drinking it, its in the finest of crystal and you immediately assume I am a man of wealth and taste. 

[Colt45]

4 minutes ago, CooGAR said:

Nope.  As long was when you see me drinking it, its in the finest of crystal and you immediately assume I am a man of wealth and taste. 

Pleased to meet you

[Fugu]

1 hour ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

... and the packaging is irrelevant to me.

I remember in a recent thread 'someone' heavily moaning about plain-packaging...  

[Colt45]

The H.Upmann Sir Winston is often lauded as one of the finest cigars produced in Cuba, yet to me, the packaging is fairly austere - plain cardboard outer wrap, simple varnished 13/12 box ( I still think the plain brown bands the best ). Nevertheless, it is sought after.

For me the same holds true with many of the world's great or even very good to good wines - the labels are often simple, classic in overall execution - at least in my thought.

[Fugu]

30 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

The H.Upmann Sir Winston is often lauded as one of the finest cigars produced in Cuba, yet to me, the packaging is fairly austere - plain cardboard outer wrap, simple varnished 13/12 box ( I still think the plain brown bands the best ). Nevertheless, it is sought after.

Oh, I have to disagree here! - for me, one of the finest, yet understated, packagings out there. A classic! Even better with the old cheapish "Eastern block" cardboard... . In particular I like that old-style clasp (the only left today).

31 minutes ago, Colt45 said:

For me the same holds true with many of the world's great or even very good to good wines - the labels are often simple, classic in overall execution - at least in my thought.

Wines, indeed, prime example of a very well-done 'austere' design, capturing the stile of the house, is Ridge. Nothing nicer than to look at a Monte Bello label in anticipation.

[Schumi5]

4 hours ago, Fugu said:

I remember in a recent thread 'someone' heavily moaning about plain-packaging...  

Pretty sure there are a few things in play here.  The question being asked here is, as a consumer if packaging matters.  The battle against plain packaging is a different question and that is whether the nanny state should be imposing these ridiculous guidelines on a perfectly legal product.  It is about the boundaries that many feel governments have overstepped.  Further, the additional costs plain packaging put on already challenged retailers who have to comply.  I think it is quite logical to have two views on this when asked from a consumer lens or a retailer lens or simply one who is opposed to large, nanny state governments and their ideologue mentality and desire to tell consenting adults how to live.

[shlomo]

So much funny in this thread. For anybody buying regionals or LE or jars or Cohiba or Trinidad....Or if you are new to cigars and you are buying Cuban and avoiding all else...I say, packaging is ALL that matters!

Yes, yes...some exceptions exist, but packaging has to account for HUGE percentage of sales. No way to know for sure obviously, but apparently I am one of the few being honest here!

Packaging absolutely attracts, but it also repulses...

[Itsmikeyadig]

Packaging doesn't really do it for me - I care more about the product inside. I actually tend to heavily discount things like the crystal skull vodka and don't give it a try because in my head I just assume it's trying to dress up a pig. Give me Tito's vodka all day long over that. Similar with cigars - I care way more about what I'll actually be smoking than how it looks.

[LLC]

I would not buy a cigar that I don’t like or doesn’t look good because of packaging but if it is a cigar that I like and they look good or are quality cigars from here, good packaging is a nice bonus and makes the experience of selecting one from the box/cab from my humidor that much better.

 

In general I love 50 cabs or boxes like the Sir Winnie’s, Behike’s, Cohiba’s, etc. Part of reaching for a special cigar is the enhanced experience of fine packaging. Is it the deciding factor - no but is it a factor.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bill Hayes]

Tiffany's blue box.

[Cigar Surgeon]

19 hours ago, Fugu said:

I remember in a recent thread 'someone' heavily moaning about plain-packaging...  

Uh ... yeah because it has a massive negative impact on my industry and the business I'm employed in. That has nothing to do with the question: "how much does it influence my purchase?".

If the question was: How much does it influence the purchase of an average person, then it's a completely different answer that's 3 paragraphs long. Apples and oranges.

[Cigar Surgeon]

20 hours ago, Colt45 said:

So purely for conversation's sake, if your favorite "premium" (I hate that term) spirit became available only - both in retail and bars - in plastic milk style jugs, you'd not care either way?

Literally had a discussion with George Grant of Glenfarclas at a whisky tasting Tuesday where I told him I wished the older expressions didn't come in a wooden box. As nice as the packaging is, I'd rather pay $60 less and have it come in a cardboard box.

In the case of premium spirits they'd have to be in a glass jug because the alcohol would interact with the plastic, but to answer your question: no, I don't care one bit about whether the bottle, or artwork, or packaging it's served in is fancy or not.

A good example of this is the Costco line of single malt whiskies that come in fairly pedestrian bottles, but contain spirits that would be sold for hundreds more in distillery packaging.

Probably one of the reasons I've been drinking Springbank for a really long time and it hasn't done well on the market.

[Cigar Surgeon]

16 hours ago, Schumi5 said:

Pretty sure there are a few things in play here.  The question being asked here is, as a consumer if packaging matters.  The battle against plain packaging is a different question and that is whether the nanny state should be imposing these ridiculous guidelines on a perfectly legal product.  It is about the boundaries that many feel governments have overstepped.  Further, the additional costs plain packaging put on already challenged retailers who have to comply.  I think it is quite logical to have two views on this when asked from a consumer lens or a retailer lens or simply one who is opposed to large, nanny state governments and their ideologue mentality and desire to tell consenting adults how to live.

Building on this the legislation directly and specifically harms tobacconists in Canada, who are already having to give up the sale of all other non-tobacco products in order to display tobacco openly. All the convenience stores, and gas stations, have had their product hidden from plain sight for more than a decade.

Plain packaging doesn't impact their sales because no one sees the package until they purchase it. But now you have open concept tobacconists dis-proportionality affected.

[Fugu]

7 hours ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

Uh ... yeah because it has a massive negative impact on my industry and the business I'm employed in. That has nothing to do with the question: "how much does it influence my purchase?".

If the question was: How much does it influence the purchase of an average person, then it's a completely different answer that's 3 paragraphs long. Apples and oranges.

Haha, all good, all good, CS. I did get that, but thought you could take a little jesting. 

While I agree with you, in the end it's only the product that counts, sure, but let's face it, we all (exceptions in the above-average perhaps) are not immune to presentation. May we now be repelled by tackiness, be fond of a clean minimalism or falling for a little bling.... Quite like Shlo, I think there's indeed sometimes a bit sanctimoniousness resonating with this thread.

I for one always notice a little bump in heartrate when opening a pristine box of 898 LGCs. Lower instincts, I know...

[Jeremy Festa]

Massively 

this answer also applies to everyone

[Lotusguy]

Massively 
this answer also applies to everyone

No, it doesn’t apply to everyone. How do you explain online sales where you don’t see the actual packaging or product before you receive it. I buy tons of single malt whiskey that way, for example.

[ayepatz]

Scotch Whisky has become the best example of packaging vs product.

A walk through any airport whisky shop will reveal a lot of 3-year old spirit tarted up in fancy packaging and priced over the odds for the product within.

It might look special, but most of the time it’s anything but.

The fact that it works and people still fork out for the stuff anyway tells you everything you need to know about human nature.

Shiny = quality to the vast majority of the human race.

[Fuzz]

1 hour ago, Lotusguy said:

No, it doesn’t apply to everyone. How do you explain online sales where you don’t see the actual packaging or product before you receive it. I buy tons of single malt whiskey that way, for example.

The question is, how is the item advertised online? Do you see a pic of the product, or just text? If it is just text, and all you saw was the brand name and price, which would you choose? What makes you decide between one bottle or the other? The tasting notes? The price?

[BinBin]

a lot but if the product sucks, i wouldnt buy again

[Lotusguy]

The question is, how is the item advertised online? Do you see a pic of the product, or just text? If it is just text, and all you saw was the brand name and price, which would you choose? What makes you decide between one bottle or the other? The tasting notes? The price?

No pic, just text. These are mostly single casks releases so if I know the distillery, and the specs are right (age, price, what kind of cask), I can make the call. Same for other spirits (Rum, Armagnac).