Everybody loves logo-printed paper bags, because they add a touch of luxury and class to every purchase. This is why fashion conscious women tend to re-use their favourite designer paper bags over and over again. As a result, these bags become walking advertisements, carried through the streets to demonstrate the loyalty that people feel to their favourite brands, via their branded bags.
As a result of this exposure, shops and boutiques have long known that luxury paper bags can be a potent source of free promotional exposure, but why is this, exactly?
The psychology of printed paper bags
Psychologists give us several reasons, aside from the brand awareness described above:
- Guilt
- Familiarity
- Warmth
First, guilt – most people now recognise that plastic bags are damaging to the environment and so they feel much less guilty about paper bags which they know they can recycle, re-use or even re-purpose their guilt-free paper sacks or bags.
Second, familiarity – every American film, every TV sitcom shows people carrying groceries in paper sacks. We’re all habituated to this idea, even if we live in a country where plastic bags are the norm. So when we show people bespoke carrier bags they immediately recognise the simple, practical nature of the bag, plus they respond to the stylish details that have been added to the basic idea.
Third, warmth – paper is warmer and that’s a fact! And we don’t just mean that paper is less cold to the touch than plastic. Psychologically, paper is a more natural product which makes it more tactile – we like to touch it, we play around with it and we feel comfortable with it. This means that humans are automatically drawn to this warm pliable material rather than to cold, rustling plastic. Rope handled paper bags offer the best of all worlds, warm to the touch, study in construction, with neat comfortable handles that don’t slice your hands if you carry them for longer than a couple of minutes.
So what have we learned?
- Customers like paper bags because they are guilt-free, familiar and cosy. Marketing via paper bags is cost effective because it offers a durable but cost-effective product that can be used multiple times and doesn’t look cheap – which is a vital consideration for cool and fashion conscious consumers.
- We’re psychologically primed to appreciate the feel of paper, so paper packaging makes us feel good about our purchases.
- For business-to business-marketing, such as at trade shows and exhibitions, printed paper bags do an excellent job of raising brand awareness because every person who attends a show wants somewhere to put all the samples, freebies, catalogues and other bits and pieces they’ve picked up during their visit. A well-designed paper bag is the ideal convention or trade show give-away because it is useful, tangible and spends the whole day going from all to stall, sharing your brand name and marketing message with everybody else in the venue.
Next steps
Now we know that the value of a luxury printed paper bag is much more than simply something to carry our goods home in, why not let Alya Packaging help you to get the best of all worlds with our stunning packaging solutions?
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