CUSTOMER PERCEPTION ON PACKAGING MADE-IN GHANA HERBAL MEDICINE (A CASE STUDY OF ANGEL HERBAL MEDICINE)

Abstract

In Ghana, many products turn to be poorly labelled in terms of concept and beauty, i.e. colour, typography, photography, illustration, layout etc. Also, it is extremely impossible to identify purely Made-in-Ghana products; given their packaging do not reflect Ghanaian culture or our way of life. These have affected the competitiveness of many Ghanaian products both on the local and international market. The low patronage of Made-in-Ghana products, therefore, can be attributed to the lack of effective and efficient packaging. Hence, the purpose of this project is to provide a better understanding on customers perception on packaging made in Ghana herbal medicine and how it can be used as a medium to whip up and sustain local interest in Made-in-Ghana herbal medicine. The underlying principle of the study is to bring out to the general public issues on good packaging that reflect the culture and lifestyle of its potential consumers in terms of colour attractiveness and symbolic identity culminating in the positive impact in the patronage of product which will consequently be manifested through the volume sale. The main objectives of this research are to: examine consumer perceptions of packaging of Made-in-Ghana herbal medicine, analyze the relationship between packaging and sales trend; identify the role of culture in increasing sales trend of local products. This research was carried out using Kumasi as a case study. Primary data was a survey taken with the help included pharmaceutical shop, chemical shop, and herbal shop, buyers (consumers), and the manufacturer of the selected Made-in-Ghana product. The selection was done based on willingness and readiness to respond to the questions. Secondary data was mostly used in the review of literature where only relevant information was incorporated. The total population of our studies was two hundred (200) consumers. The sampling was done by sending one hundred and thirty (130) questioners to customers who buy from pharmaceutical, chemical and herbal shop in Adum, like Danny pharmacy, Ayankwa pharmacy and the likes and customers of herbal medicine in Adum, Asafo and Tafo. The selection was done randomly. With the total of 100 respondents, 70% have the perception that they do not buy herbal medicine because of the beautiful packaging whilst 30% have the perception that they purchase herbal medicine because of the beautiful packaging. 64% have the perception that their personal need motivate them to buy herbal medicine whereas 36% have the perception that they are influence by culture effects of packaging. 34% have the perception that they do not buy herbal medicine because of the affordability of the prices whilst66% have the perception that they purchase Angel herbal mixture because of the affordable price.