Excessive packaging of products can not be judged only by the volume or material grade of packaging, but also by many factors.
First, different types and grades of packaging have different packaging degrees.
Judging from the attributes of commodities, commodities are divided into high, medium and low grades, as well as gift packaging and ordinary packaging. Different grades of goods have different consumer groups, packaging weight, price profit, packaging materials, packaging added value and decoration. Gift packaging not only has the function of packaging, but also has special commemorative significance. According to the excellent packaging design evaluation of the Design Committee of China Packaging Association, the cost of gift packaging materials accounts for less than 30% of the product production cost, and the cost of low-grade or ordinary packaging materials accounts for less than 3% of the product production cost. Exceeding this ratio is defined as "over-packaging". (Note: This definition is not mandatory, and it is difficult to accurately calculate and divide it in practice, because we cannot accurately calculate the production cost and interest rate. )
The main reason why gift packaging is different from ordinary packaging is "commemorative". When people buy daily necessities as gifts or ask for help, daily necessities become gifts. In this case, gift packaging has no commemorative significance. The gift itself is an ordinary article for daily use, and only through this matter can people leave memories. There are many kinds of gifts, including daily necessities, handicrafts, artworks, commemorative tickets, coins, antiques, jewelry and so on. At present, handicrafts, artworks, antiques and jewelry are not valued in the domestic market, and some even have no packaging. This is because people's living standards or concepts have not reached a new level, not to mention "excessive" packaging.
Second, the value of goods is different and the degree of packaging is different.
Similar goods have the same raw material composition, but different content and quality, so the prices are different. Different brands of cigarettes are made of the same tobacco leaves. Because of the different quality and component content of cigarettes, the price is also different, and the price positioning affects the packaging design and the grade of packaging materials. Cigarettes of the same brand are packed in carton, plastic and metal. Although there is little difference in the quality and composition of cigarettes, there are also price differences. This phenomenon is the utilization and embodiment of packaging function benefit, product benefit and added value benefit. So the degree of packaging is naturally different.
The functions of packaging are: ① protection function; ② Promoting function; ③ beautification function, ④ convenience function and ③ value function. The ultimate goal of packaging cultivation is to sell products, and the ultimate goal of strengthening packaging is to sell products.
From the point of view of protection function, it cannot be defined as "over-packaging", because in the range of pressure resistance and impact resistance, the volume of the packaging box needs to exceed the volume of the product. The volume of the packaging box exceeds the product volume, which is beyond the range of pressure resistance and impact resistance. Conceptually, it can be defined as "over-packaging", but in fact, if it can be sold and accepted by consumers, it cannot be defined as "over-packaging". If the product can't be sold, can't be accepted by the target consumer group, and loses the consumer group, this situation is called "over-packaging". If there is, the manufacturer will naturally change the packaging.
The reasons for the enlargement of general packaging boxes are as follows: ① the need to protect products from compression and impact; ② When making cartons, the utilization rate of paper itself is wasted on the carton structure, which has little influence on the cost of making the packaging boxes bigger and smaller. (3) In order to increase the added value of commodities. Even if the manufacturer has the purpose of misleading consumers by making the packaging box bigger, as long as the manufacturer indicates the production license on the front of the packaging box and meets the content requirements stipulated by the national lecturer standard. It is difficult to judge whether manufacturers want to make high profits or reduce profits and increase sales.
The volume of the packaging box exceeds the product volume, which is beyond the range of pressure resistance and impact resistance. However, in the formation of the carton structure, the utilization rate of paper is not wasted. In order to prevent the expensive goods from being damaged and ensure the integrity of the goods, it is necessary for manufacturers to increase the volume of the packaging box without increasing the cost of packaging materials, so as to strengthen the impact and compression resistance and achieve the purpose of prevention. For example, the box size of USB mobile hard disk is enlarged, and sponge and foam are used to protect the product. This is mainly because the USB mobile hard disk is small in size but high in value, and the compression and impact resistance should be strengthened, which is the purpose of greatly ensuring safety.
The increase of packaging materials and process weight increases the production cost, and also improves the grade of goods. The packaging of high-grade goods and gifts pays attention to the degree and weight of packaging, and ordinary or disposable low-priced goods do not need to be "over-packaged". Assuming that the ordinary disposable plastic cup itself has the ability of compression and impact resistance, if it is packed in an iron box, it is really over-packed. But in fact, it is impossible to have such a brainless manufacturer.
In order to make the goods occupy a certain share in the market and improve the value of the goods, packaging often makes a fuss about the multiple functions of packaging. The convenience of packaging structure and the selection of special packaging materials are all aimed at improving the added value of goods. While increasing the packaging cost, it also increases the added value of goods, and the degree of added value is often much higher than the value of increasing the packaging cost. The allusion of "giving back pearls" shows that consumers originally wanted to buy pearls, but because of the exquisite packaging box, its added value increased, which made buyers change their minds and "give back pearls". On the other hand, consumers have a certain degree of "vanity" and think that exquisite things are good things. It is precisely because packaging has the function of promotion and beautification that it can guide the psychological changes of consumers, which explains why manufacturers do not reduce the cost of packaging materials to improve profits, and it is often the reason why they increase the added value of packaging to improve profits.
Third, different consumer groups have different packaging consumption needs.
In consumer groups, there are differences in consumers' personality, cultural accomplishment, aesthetic power and purchasing power, so the evaluation of "over-packaging" is also inconsistent. If the buyer is not a consumer group within the scope of design positioning, the number of buyers and the number of purchases are extremely limited, and it is understandable that the packaging after purchase is "excessive", but this view cannot be explained to be correct. Take the packaging design of Year of the Sheep commemorative coin as an example: the function (circulation value) of the coin is 200 yuan, the manufacturing cost of the packaging box is 60 yuan (excluding the design fee), and the market sales price is 2000-3000 yuan. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for consumer groups to be positioned as people with insufficient food and clothing. Although the value of packaging is "excessive", it reflects a specific value, that is, "commemorative", rather than the monetary value itself. It is understandable that people with poor purchasing power who are outside the positioning of consumer groups say that the packaging is "excessive" after buying it. If the buyer is a consumer group within the design orientation, and most people in this group think that the packaging is "excessive", that is, "things are worthless", especially if the design orientation of the product is wrong, then people will not buy, the product packaging will have no vitality, and the product packaging will naturally disappear in the market.
From the perspective of consumer demand, consumers buy goods instead of packaging, but how can we distinguish different products without packaging? How to ensure the interests of consumers? From the perspective of sales expenses and sales demand, manufacturers make packaging and large packaging to ensure that the sales process is not destroyed and profits are guaranteed. Therefore, the big packaging of manufacturers is not necessarily to sell the packaging boxes to consumers, but its ultimate goal is to sell goods better.
Four, the national laws and policies on different levels of packaging did not make clear provisions.
Judging from national laws and regulations, there are currently advertising laws, trademark laws and national measurement standards, but there is no "packaging law" so far. According to the national measurement standard, the product composition, content and net weight must be marked on the front of the packaging box. As long as the manufacturer indicates the production license, production date, factory name and address, component content and net weight on the front of the packaging box, the product is not a "three noes" product. The composition, content and net weight of the products contained in the box are consistent with those marked on the surface of the box. Then, no matter how big the packaging box is, there is no legal provision to explain that manufacturers cheat consumers through over-packaging. Because fake and shoddy goods generally reflect no production license, no national measurement standards and no registered trademarks; Or steal the image of brand packaging, make or imitate the image of brand image packaging, therefore, anti-counterfeiting printing technology came into being, making the production process more and more complicated. From this point of view, the complexity of packaging production technology also increases the production cost. Is it also defined as "over packaging"? If the Design Committee of China Packaging Association stipulates in the selection of excellent packaging design that the material cost of gift packaging accounts for less than 30% of the product production cost, and the material cost of low-grade or ordinary packaging accounts for less than 3% of the product production cost, if it becomes law, then it is reasonable to define it as "over-packaging" if it exceeds this ratio. However, 30% and 3% assessments involve the improvement of many departments and other corresponding laws and regulations.
Therefore, the definition of "over-packaging" is very difficult, because it involves the production technology, process and cost accounting of commodities, and the supervision institutions and systems of commodities; Commodity circulation and commodity protection, commodity price policy and pricing principle, commodity quality standards and testing, consumer group positioning and purchasing demand, differences in people's desires and purchasing power and other factors; The main reason is that there is no proper and effective packaging regulations.