Survey reveals packaging's growing power to influence European consumers’ brand trust and loyalty

Sustainability is becoming a more decisive factor in shopping, with new survey findings suggesting that packaging now carries real weight in how consumers judge products and brands.

Pro Carton’s 2026 European Consumer Packaging Perceptions Survey shows that 85% of consumers take a product’s climate impact into account when buying, while 66% say packaging has a significant effect on how they view an item. The findings point to a shift in retail decision-making, where packagi...

The research also suggests that material choice matters. Cartonboard emerged as the preferred packaging material among consumers, reflecting a broader tilt towards recyclable and renewable alternatives to plastic. According to the survey, 89% of consumers prefer cardboard packaging over plastic, and 62% said they had stepped up their recycling efforts over the past year.

Perhaps most strikingly, packaging appears capable of changing buying behaviour directly. The survey found that 37% of European consumers have switched brands because of packaging concerns, while 66% said sustainable packaging increases trust in a brand. That places packaging alongside more established purchase drivers such as price and quality, rather than treating it as a secondary detail.

Pro Carton says its annual consumer studies are designed to track how attitudes to sustainability, recycling and material choice are evolving across Europe. The 2026 findings indicate that those attitudes are increasingly translating into action, as shoppers reward brands that present themselves as environmentally responsible and turn away from those that do not.

For retailers and manufacturers, the message is clear: packaging is now part of the conversation about trust, loyalty and sales, not just presentation.

Source: Noah Wire Services