Scientists at Campden BRI are using virtual reality (VR) technology to better understand which on-pack sensory claims motivate consumers to purchase products. The company found that product packaging which included sensory descriptions had a significant impact on the consumer’s purchasing choice.

According to Campden BRI, typical consumer studies often lack the real-world element, yet context plays a pivotal role in determining how consumers behave. The company is using VR to overcome this issue.

The immersive study aimed to mimic a real-world supermarket setting to ensure the participants’ product choices reflected those made during their usual food shop.

Sensory and consumer research scientist Marleen Chambault, who led the consumer study, says that by highlighting the “unique selling point of a product, sensory claims such as ‘Great taste’ and ‘Sweet and smooth’ can be powerful marketing tools.”

“Having recently completed a two-year project on sensory claims, we’ve explored this area in quite some depth. We will likely use VR for similar studies in the future, but these are yet to be /confirm/ied,” she tells FoodIngredientsFirst. 

According to Chambault, VR can be used to optimize supermarket space, ensure products stand out and assess how products will perform when in the supermarket. 

“Food businesses can use VR to determine how a product looks and the impact it will have on purchase intent when, for example, placed on certain shelves with certain packaging,” she details. 

Targeting “the real world”
The challenge for food business operators is knowing whether the claims they use make a difference and motivate consumers to purchase their products, she notes. 

Using VR, multiple versions of a product’s packaging could be created relatively quickly, each version with a different on-pack claim and accompanied with the product’s price. 

The resulting simulation allowed participants to interact with products in a way that has not been possible in previous consumer studies.

To recreate the shopping experience, Chambault ensures no stone was left unturned during the test’s design. “We even simulated background supermarket noises to further immerse the participants,” she adds.

The test required respondents to travel down virtual supermarket aisles toward the breakfast cereal and orange juice product displays using a computer. Here they chose one product from a selecion, each displaying different on-pack claims.

Which claims are the strongest?
For the two products, like in previous non-VR studies, nutrition claims such as “no added sugar” appeared to have a powerful impact on the consumer’s choice. 

Sensory claims also had a strong impact in this study, particularly those focusing on the specific sensory characteristics of the products, like “sweet and smooth.”

“What we found most surprising was that the sensory claims had such a strong impact. This strong impact was something we didn’t see in previous non-VR studies,” Chambault affirms.

Challenges arise from health crisis
Restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have limited face-to-face studies that form the backbone of consumer research. 

“We were able to develop a study that has the potential to be performed remotely, paving the way for industry to gather insightful consumer data even during restrictions caused by COVID-19,” says Carolyn Harlow, director of Sodalite Creative, who provided the virtual reality experience.

Purchasing power
Compared to Campden BRI’s previous sensory claim studies, the VR study reinforced the previous finding that the best claim to use depends on the specific product. 

“We found that consumers are not consistently motivated by the same claims,” Chambault continues. “Respondents rarely chose both a breakfast cereal and an orange juice with the same type of claim, highlighting the need for food manufacturers to test specific claims with their products.”

With greater insight into the impact that different claims have on consumers, food manufacturers will be able to identify which claims they should use on their packaging to influence the consumer’s likelihood of purchasing their products.

The study lays the foundation for future consumer research using VR. Including, for example, the impact of a product’s shelf positioning or packaging designs on consumers’ intent to buy.

In November, a Health Claims Unpacked project, funded by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) Food expanded on its 2019 research to learn how consumers can be more effectively attracted to F&B products with health claims through word choice and packaging design. It found that certain colors, using verbs over nouns and demographic-specific vocabulary can all make on-pack health claims more convincing for consumers.