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Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Abstract

The importance of packaging in the marketing of a product cannot be overemphasized. It raises the appeal of the product and becomes its silent salesman. Proper packaging is a less expensive means of advertisement and leads to a direct reduction in production cost and indirectly increases sales by attracting the final consumer. The use of packaging as a marketing and sales promotional tool has been very well developed in the advanced countries with developing countries such as Ghana lagging far behind. In Ghana, many products are poorly labelled and packaged. This paper seeks to ascertain the views of sellers/traders about how the packaging of Made-in-Ghana products affects their marketability. Geographically, the study focused on Kumasi Metropolis given that it is a commercialized city in Ghana. The research employed the case study and qualitative approaches. Survey respondents were sampled through the cluster and accidental sampling techniques. The major road corridors served as the bases for clustering while the accidental sampling technique was employed for the selection of the shops to be interviewed given the absence of reliable information on the number and location of shops in the Kumasi Metropolis. A random accessible population of 100 was taken. A structured questionnaire was employed in a more interactive manner upon a pre-test of 10 shops. Data obtained was edited and presented in the forms of tables and charts to facilitate the analysis. The study revealed that indeed, the final purchasing decision of consumers are made at the point of sale and that packaging serves as the silent salesman through its aesthetic value and the adequacy of information provided on the label of the product. To the traders, the foreign products have their packaging really acting as their silent salesman better than the local ones, thus, their low patronage. Also, the incidence of product rejection due to its packaging was greater in the instances of locally manufactured products based on faded labels, exposed products’ contents and doubtful expiry dates. The use of right quality packaging materials, appropriate colour schemes, improvements in product branding, embossment of Ghanaian logos were suggested strategies for increasing the patronage of Made-in-Ghana products. Until and unless, the local manufacturer is “pushed” to ensure that their products are properly packaged to attract the final consumer, they would continue to struggle with reduction in sales.

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