Can your packaging drive brand favorability and intent to purchase? Here are lessons from the front lines.

We’ve probably all been a part of (or at least seen) some consumer research that makes it clear that people buy a product, not the package. But we also know packaging can be a big negative for consumers – if it’s too hard to get into, or there’s too much of it, people complain. And worry that it can wind up in the environment – and impale marine life – is almost too much for most folks to bear. In fact, plastics in the ocean is the top environmental issue people have said they’re most concerned about – more so than climate change – for all six years we’ve asked the question. 

So, the next question is: can we flip the script? Rather than being a negative, can packaging drive a positive brand perception AND drive purchasing decisions? 

For the last three years we’ve been working with the Can Manufacturers Institute, a handful of canned food brands, and can makers themselves to tell the infinite recyclability and food waste abatement story of the steel food can. ERM Shelton’s data has long revealed that steel is viewed as the least eco-friendly material. Case in point: only 3% of people in America believe steel is most likely to get processed by a recycling center to become a new product. In reality, 75% of all steel ever produced is still in use today, and at 58%, steel food cans have the highest recycling rate of any food packaging. 

Our campaign, called Canned Good, has bridged the gap between perception and reality. 

Every year of the campaign, we’ve conducted a survey to understand how the campaign is performing. Specifically, the survey has measured: 

• Consumer favorability toward the can.  
• Knowledge that the can is infinitely recyclable.  
• Knowledge of food waste abatement through can usage. 

The primary takeaways from this year’s survey were as follows: 

Familiarity breeds Favorability 

• Overall, the steel food can has a low net promotor score (NPS) but high Favorability, implying people don’t have a problem buying canned foods but won’t go out of their way to recommend them to friends and family.
• However, across the campaign’s 3-year lifespan, the NPS score has steadily improved among those Familiar with Canned Good (+10 points from 2022 to 2024). 
• Familiarity with the Canned Good campaign is correlated to a higher NPS and Favorability. We suspect that year-over-year exposure is increasing Favorability. 

Canned Good’s retail partners “beat the market” in both Familiarity and Favorability. Over the past 3 years, Canned Good has partnered with almost a dozen retailers across the country to get the word out, and on average, shoppers at these retailers were: 

• 17+ percentage points more likely to be familiar with Canned Good than those who shopped elsewhere (56% vs 39%). 
• 6+ percentage points more likely to have a favorable opinion of steel food cans than those who shopped elsewhere (76% vs 70%).

People see the steel food can and connect it (and whatever metal they believe it is made of) to infinite recyclability. 

• Throughout the campaign, aluminum and tin have been the primary metals people associate with the food can (not steel), but they now associate any metal with infinite recyclability.

Sustainability helps lessen the burden of potential higher cost. People are willing to pay more for packaging they think offers sustainability benefits, like recyclability and cutting down food waste.

• Those familiar with the Canned Good campaign were 21% more likely to buy steel food cans with an arbitrary 30% price increase. 

Regardless of where they’ve heard/seen the Canned Good campaign – digital ads, in-store ads, or organic social media posts – it has led to increased Favorability!  

Additionally, through self-reported data, we found that during their Canned Good campaign activations, partnering retailers saw sales increase anywhere from 2.9% to 317% year-over-year.  

The key takeaway from this campaign – and the annual research – is that when you create sustainability benefits for your packaging, and you promote them, consumers are more likely to buy AND stick with your brand, even if there are disruptions in your supply chain that drive price increases. 

Or as our head of research, Susannah Enkema, says, “While the takeaway on the surface is that consumers have loyalty for brands and products that are doing the right thing for the planet, there’s another underlying connection to the idea that if you are doing the right thing for the planet, you are a good company. We think this means that individuals will also be more likely to forgive you for mistakes and missteps, stemming attrition in a world of fickle purchasers.” 

We’ll publish a report about all that we’ve learned through the Canned Good campaign, paired with some of our new Pulse research, later this month. I’ll also present about it at the SPC Advance conference in Chicago on September 30. So, come learn all about it and download the report when it’s available. As always, if you want to ask questions or offer counter opinions, drop us a line. We’re always interested!