When marketers decide to redesign their brand’s packaging, they take a big risk. Consumers rely on familiar packaging to recognise products when shopping quickly, so a change can make it harder for them to find and buy the brand they know. To avoid costly mistakes, companies often use market research to guide their redesign efforts. But does research always lead to better results?

Our article, which draws on data collected from 227 marketers who had engaged in pack changes, and published in the International Journal of Market Research, explores this question and reveals some surprising findings.

When does market research help or hinder effective pack changes?

Many assume that market research increases the likelihood of a successful packaging redesign. After all, research is supposed to provides data-driven insights rather than relying on gut feeling. However, our findings suggest that simply conducting any redesign research doesn’t necessarily lead to better outcomes.

A key issue is that once a company decides to redesign packaging, it often focuses only on choosing the best new design rather than considering whether the existing design should remain. Sometimes, keeping the current packaging might be the best option. This highlights the need for research processes that allow for the possibility of no change if redesigning isn’t necessary.

Why focus groups fall short

 Focus groups are one of the most used tools to assess packaging changes. However, our research shows that they are linked to less successful redesigns. Why? Because focus groups encourage people to think about packaging and over analyse in a way that doesn’t match real-life shopping behaviour.

Most people see shopping as a chore, to complete quickly with minimal thought. Shoppers rely on familiar visual cues to find the brands they need, rather than consciously analysing the details of different packaging options.  In contrast, focus groups require participants to think deeply about design changes. This mismatch between research settings and real-life cognitive processes, as well as the small sample, biased, respondents, means you get questionable results from focus groups.

The importance of knowing and protecting the brand’s distinctive assets

Our research reveals that more successful pack redesigns occur when the research involves assessing distinctive brand assets.  Examples of distinctive assets are colours, logos, images, pack styles and shapes that evoked the brand in the minds of category buyers, and helps shoppers find their preferred products quickly in cluttered retail environments. Focusing on elements that consumers already associate with the brand helps marketers avoid changes that could weaken pack recognition.

Other research methods: are they helpful?

We did not see any evidence that other market research techniques, like shelf tests, lead to more successful redesigns. One possible reason is that shelf tests are often conducted in controlled environments that don’t fully reflect the many different real-world retail settings where packaging must compete for attention. Similarly, there was no evidence that common research metrics such as purchase intent and time to find are linked to redesign success.

Final thoughts

Market research is a valuable tool, but only if used correctly. Simply conducting research doesn’t guarantee a successful packaging redesign. Techniques that place too much emphasis on consumer thinking and feelings about packaging changes may lead to poor decisions. Instead, maintaining key branding elements is helpful for success.

Our research also suggests marketers should critically evaluate their research methods and ensure they align with real-world shopping behaviours.

The complete study provides an in-depth analysis of the findings, emphasising the implications for marketing managers.

William Caruso is senior marketing scientist at Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science

• The full paper is published in the International Journal of Market Research: Caruso, W., Romaniuk, J., Page, B., William Anesbury, Z., & Williams, J. ( 2025 ). The role of market research in pack redesign performance. International Journal of Market Research, 67( 1 ), 17-32.