Anonymity, Anxiety, and Abandonment: How Product Packaging and Location Impact the Shopper: An Abstract

In a quest to stand out, have some companies been hurting their own sales? In particular, when considering the packaging or placement of embarrassing products, a highly noticeable or visible product may be a deterrent. This research examines product packaging of embarrassing products and the impact on anonymity, anxiety, and abandonment. A scenario-based experiment was used to examine the effects of product packaging anonymity onto abandonment intentions. Product anonymity is the degree to which a person feels a product is indistinguishable from other products (Pfitzmann and Kohntopp 2009). This study finds that product color and product form have an impact on perceived anonymity. Cool colored packaging is perceived as more anonymous than warm colored packaging, and boxed products are perceived as more anonymous than unboxed products (Esmark Jones et al. 2018). This study finds that anonymity has a negative relationship with anxiety when purchasing embarrassing product and anxiety has a positive effect on abandonment such that anxiety mediates the relationship between anonymity and abandonment. The placement of a product also impacts anonymity. A second scenario-based experiment was used to examine the effects of location anonymity onto abandonment intentions. While a popular in-store promotional tactic is to place an item on an endcap, such a showcase makes products highly visible (Suher and Sorenson 2010) and less anonymous and contributing to the relationship between anonymity, anxiety, and abandonment intentions. Products at an endcap location heightened the felt anxiety in comparison to products in aisle. The results show that one way to decrease abandonment for certain products is to package them in a cool-colored box. Any packing element that is deemed to be low in anonymity should decrease the product’s overall anonymity. Companies should take this into consideration when determining how best to differentiate through product packaging for embarrassing products. Specifically, for embarrassing products firms should not brand their products with overt, flashy packaging but should instead opt for subtle product packaging cues. The anonymity experienced when purchasing an embarrassing product can be enhanced by placing the product in a more anonymous location, such as in an aisle versus an endcap. These findings suggest embarrassing products should be given careful consideration of not only how they are packaged but also where they are placed and how they are promoted.