Tactile Sensations
Touching a product has been found to increase attitudes and purchase intentions towards the product and to increase the confidence in the evaluation of these products, say Joann Peck & Jennifer Wiggins.
"Tactile elements of packaging contribute to the overall brand image"
Taking this into consideration, new print technologies are being introduced that provide tactile effects, which encourages consumers to touch.
Some evidence suggests that tactile elements of product packaging can even contribute to the overall brand image of a product. According to recent research, it is evident that the longer individuals focus on an item, the more likely they are to choose that item and give it a higher liking rating. If products attract visual attention, consumers are more likely to touch as well; and if they touch them, they are even more likely to purchase them.
"Distinctive packaging used to attract the customer's attention"
Given today's variety of products in retail stores, brand owners need to make sure that their products stand out against competing goods. Consequently, packaging has to first attract the customer's attention. According to Joann Peck and Jennifer Wiggins a product package that is interesting to touch may increase sales of the product even if the opportunity to touch does not provide additional product attribute information.
(Source: Joann Peck & Jennifer Wiggins; It Just Feels Good: Customers' Affective Response to Touch and Its Influence on Persuation; Aradhna Krishna, Luca Cian, Nilüfer Z. Aydınoglu ; "Sensory Aspects of package design"; 2017)
Once a customer physically experiences and touches effects such as raised spot UV coatings, it would seem, they are immediately sold on it. And that's good news for everyone.
Tactile sensations increase impulse purchases
Another survey, "The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership", carried out by Peck and Suzanne B. Shu in 2013, showed that vision and touch increased psychological ownership and valuation over vision alone by 22% and 24% respectively. A 2017 study, meanwhile, "Sensory Aspect of Package Design", by Aradhna Krishna, Luca Cian and Nilüfer Z. Aydinoglu, found that foil-enhanced packaging increased the rate of attraction by up to 2.5 times.
The knock-on benefits of print embellishment techniques to you as a print service provider
The new embellishment techniques and digital varnish technologies, such as spot coating digital prints, highlighting defined areas and adding 3D effects, also let PSPs take their creativity to a new level – and subsequently charge a premium for doing so. Add 3-dimensional varnish and foil to a printed piece, and you turn a standard print into a premium product.
Print customers appreciate the innovative approach for this, moreover, and will willingly pay extra for it. The 2016 study "Beyond CMYK: The Use of Special Effects in Digital Printing, Keypoint Intelligence", asked print service providers the question: "Compared with digital CMYK, only printing, how much of a premium or percentage increase can you charge for print enhancement?" European print buyers indicated they were willing to pay a premium of up to 89% over CMYK alone for digital print enhancements. Print buyers said they would accept the highest premiums, meanwhile, for the textured (up by 89%), foiled (82%), and metallic effects (51%) that can be created using the technology. Speciality colours (28%), foils (28%), and textured finishes (27%) showed the highest percentages of respondents stating that they charged premiums of 50% or higher.
From grabbing attention at the POS to charging premium rates to the companies behind the marketing of products, therefore, embellishment is a win-win development for the print industry.
MGI has made print embellishment more affordable for all since entering the industry, and not just high-end jobs. The MGI JETvarnish 3D series offers dynamic enrichment of digital and offset, printed output via unique inkjet applications of dimensional varnish and foil textures. Print was used in appealing and eye-catching applications such as interior design, product catalogues and brochures in the tourism and travel sector, menu cards and daily offers in gastronomy, luxury boxes in consumer goods, mailshots and advertisements in marketing campaigns, and many other sectors.
So if you want to be at the cutting edge in the print industry, you need digital varnish technology. And where does it go next, you may well be wondering? Which of our senses will technology conquer next? Will new printing methods somehow recreate the sound of waves gently lapping against the shore in a tourism brochure, perhaps, or the smell of a delicious meal on a menu? Sounds impossible, sure – but that's what they used to say about tactile printing..
Do you think you might want to talk to one of our experts about how MGI's digital varnish technology could make your company more profitable?
MGI offers a wide range of varnishing options that will give you all the benefits of embellishment overnight and increase your profit margins at a stroke. So if you want to find out more about investing in the future of printing with our revolutionary embellishment techniques – and maybe test-drive some of our hardware while you're about it – just click on Contact Us, and we'll be in touch directly!