Defending Against Copycat Packaging: The Role of Design from a Consumer’s Perspective

Copycat packaging involves a type of imitation strategy in which the appearance of a market leader’s packaging design is simulated by a low-cost alternative. Previous literature has focused on reactive strategies against copycat packaging, primarily involving litigation and packaging design changes; however, very little attention has been assigned to the role of packaging design as a proactive strategy for mitigating against copycat packaging. To address this issue, this study examined the role of design in mitigating copycat packaging from a consumers’ perspective. We conducted an exploratory study of 37 semi-structured interviews to understand how consumers respond to the design components on visually similar packaging across a range of FMCG products. We found that packaging design cues have the greatest impact on purchasing decisions in cases where consumers have no familiarity with a brand, but less influence when consumers are already familiar with a brand. Consumers rank the importance of packaging design features differently depending on the product category. For high-cost items, consumers rank structural design as the most important feature, whereas colour is considered the most important for low-cost products. We end the paper by discussing the implications for brand managers and outline strategies for minimising the occurrence of copycat packaging.