Regular coffee drinkers might find their drinking experience improved based on how their beverage is described. Companies that design and print coffee labels labor over the choice of words that get printed on the packaging, and one report recently published in PLOS ONE alleges that the phrase “eco-friendly” changes everything when it comes to the coffee drinking experience.
As the abstract for the report notes, the series of experiments that it concerns gave its subjects multiple cups of coffee, only one of which was described as “eco-friendly.” Though the two cups actually contained identical beverages, the coffee labeled as eco-friendly was favored among participants.
In the first experiment, 27 people out of a group of 44 preferred the “eco-friendly” brew, and in the third experiment, whether or not consumers would be willing to pay higher for eco friendly coffee was also a factor.
“Our findings are entirely consistent with the idea that people may view a morally loaded label as an additional characteristic of the good,” the reports authors noted. They conclude by saying “eco labels not only promote a willingness to pay more for the product but they also lead to a more favorable perceptual experience of it.”
With so much attention in the media focused on this aspect of coffee, as in this piece by The Fashion Spot, it seems like an important criteria that companies can keep in mind. The article instructs consumers in the way that they may determine whether or not their chosen coffee brand is actually eco-friendly by looking at the different individual parts that can contribute to that: whether it’s bird friendly, fair trade, or shade grown, for example.
Creating colored labels for coffee products can give business the chance to highlight this aspect of their product and try to sway customers. Once they know your product is in line with their beliefs, they might be more inclined to read the other parts of your well-produced packaging.
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