Creating Sustainable Development of the Destination with Tea Public Version Packaging Design by Obtaining Relational Space Concept

Abstract

Packaging is crucial for presenting the image of tea tourism destinations. The public version of tea packaging with images of tea sightseeing spots was pervasive, and builds the impression to tourists that they have visited a certain destination. However, with the rise of independent brand thinking and sensory stimulation consumption, the form of tea packaging in the public version has changed to be based on tourists’ purchasing preferences, leading to the diversity of the packaging style and pattern, and the public version of tea packaging gradually loses the function of promoting brand images. Based on the rooted land of oriental tea culture, this research has the following aims: (1) to construct the concept of “Relational Space for Sustainable Public Version of Tea Packaging and its Concept” through a literature review and field investigation; (2) to give contributions to the improvement of the visual aspect of the existing public packaging of tea; (3) to integrate the image of the destination and the private brand image of tea farmers with the public version of tea packaging to enhance the perception and attraction of tourists to the brand image of tea tourism destinations; (4) to design, operate, and test the concept discussed in this study by utilizing experimental design and questionnaire survey and propose application guidelines for this concept design. The results of the study are as follows: (1) The destination images and geographical symbols of the existing public packaging of tea are beneficial to the promotion of the destination image; however, the visual elements that make up these packages are not conducive to the cultural richness of the destination because of their single relational context, which leads to the solidification of the destination image. (2) The design application guidelines proposed in this study present the concept of destination branding and private branding as a complement to each other by adjusting the packaging layout to create a mutually beneficial partnership visually embodied in the public tea packaging design. Packaging accessories are central to the partnership between the destination and the local industry, and the public tea packaging design created by this concept creates a richness and specificity of the destination’s brand image. In this way, the destination’s industry and brand image will develop in a diverse and multifaceted way to achieve the sustainability of the destination’s industry.