Biodegradable packaging with natural colorants added to increase the consumption of eco-friendly packaging

Abstract

The development of biodegradable packaging is relevant for the environment, society, and industry. In parallel, using natural colorants has also emerged as a current topic in research, for its appeal to both human and environmental health. Combining the concepts of biodegradable packaging and natural colorants in a single product presents as a strategy to increase the potential use of biodegradable packaging. In this sense, this project starts with the following hypothesis: the offer of biodegradable packaging with a natural colorant added improves the positive perception of biodegradable packaging by the consumer. To this end, using the Food Choice Questionnaire (FCQ), the present work seeks to understand the effect of the construct natural content on the importance given by consumers to foods that are packaged in an environmentally friendly way, and using Word Association (WA) technique, to investigate the influence of color, and awareness of the presence of natural colorants on biodegradable packaging. The study was designed using two approaches: (i) Developing a model using Partial Least Squares-Path modeling (PLS-PM) to explain the whole set of relationships between FCQ constructs of interest in eco-friendly packaging, being mediated by the construct natural content; and (ii) using WA technique under two conditions: blind condition (unaware) and informed condition (aware) to explore the holistic perception of colored biodegradable packaging. Results showed that Ethical concerns and Health, had positive effects on Natural Content, while “weight control” had a positive effect on Natural Content. On the other hand, Mood was found to have a negative effect on Natural Content. Natural content has a high effect on the importance given by consumers to foods packaged in an environmentally friendly way. Word Association revealed a positive perception of the presentation of colored biodegradable packaging and a more positive perception, defined by happiness, of the awareness of its being biodegradable packaging colored by natural colorants. From a practical point of view, results showed that not only the use of natural colorants by the packaging industry can serve as an incentive to consume biodegradable packaging, but that consumers' awareness that the color is from a natural colorant can increase the consumption of eco-friendly packaging.