Purpose – This paper seeks to discuss the need to understand consumer perceptions in order to correctly design product packing and to achieve the desired position in the minds of consumers. Design/methodology/approach – Data collection was divided into two phases. The first, (based on designers' opinions), to determine the key graphic variables in the design of packaging. The second, (based on consumers' opinions), to associate each packaging with a positioning strategy. The seven product-positioning strategies selected were represented from the consumers' standpoint using multidimensional scaling. Four maps were obtained related to: alternative packaging colours; alternative packaging typography; alternative packaging graphical forms; alternative packaging images Findings – Each positioning strategy appears associated with particular packaging dimensions. Research limitations/implications – Consumers have exhibited harmonious perceptions towards products-packaging strategies, so one can conclude that a general feeling as to what a particular packaging exactly means exists. So the general opinion should guide packaging designers to appropriately meet consumers' expectations. Originality/value – A range of simulated packaging was prepared for the 46 consumers that took part in the two-phase experiment: One of the seven positioning strategies was explained. For example: “Product ‘A’ is positioned as reasonably priced. People say the price is OK”; Case to be solved: “From this selection, choose the packaging that seems most suitable for product ‘A’, taking its characteristics into account”. The simulated packaging alternatives were shown and the subject chose the options that seemed most suitable (colour, typography, forms and images). The sequence was repeated for the remaining six positioning typologies.

Purpose – Market orientation analyses have focused on two broad-ranging approaches: the behavioural and the philosophical. The concepts of innovation and market orientation are gaining ground steadily in the context of an increasingly competitive and highly volatile environment, subject to the pressures of rapid-changing customer needs and desires. This premise underlies the general aim of this study, which is to determine to what extent companies operating in the same sector and with similar market orientation are similarly concerned about innovation. Design/methodology/approach – The population for this study comprises the leading 465 textile companies operating in Spain, listed in the ARDAN database. Data were gathered from in-depth personalised interviews with 17 company directors operating within the textile sector. In order to verify the hypotheses, groups with similar market orientation were identified using a combination of two techniques: multidimensional scaling analysis; and cluster analysis. After this, ANOVA was used to characterise each group. Findings – This study of the textile sector, and more specifically of its leading companies, enables one to conclude that market orientation and innovation are not isolated fields. First, four groups of firms which differ significantly in their commitment to market orientation have been found. Second, although a direct relationship between market orientation and innovation could not be statistically proved, some tools and policies considered in the innovation scale are more heavily used by the firms more orientated to the market. Third, in the context of the traditional debate in the literature about the market orientation-performance relationship, the results of this study support a positive relationship between these two concepts. Research limitations/implications – The limitation of the sample size should lead one to treat the final results with caution. Originality/value – The concepts of innovation and market orientation are gaining ground steadily in the context of an increasingly competitive and highly volatile environment, subject to the pressures of rapidly-changing customer needs and desires. In this sense, through this paper companies can observe how these two concepts are related in a particular industry and obtain some interesting implications.

Purpose: The basis of this paper is to carry on a bibliometric analysis to investigate how “marketing” decisions have affected “packaging” success in different disciplines. This analysis covers from the first paper published on this topic (in 1956) to the last papers published in 2019.Design/methodology/approach: A total of 1,170 scientific papers (including 14,177 citations within those papers) were retrieved from the Web of Science (WOS) and Scopus, dated from 1956 to 2019. Scimat software was used to analyse the data.Findings: The results of this paper show that two main sectors constitute the focus of packaging studies from a marketing approach: food and tobacco. Recently, the main topics of research have evolved towards sustainable and health packaging, concerning different agents involved in packaging decisions: retailers, marketers, consumers and producers. So, both lines of research represent promising lines of research.Originality/value: Three different investigating profiles (i.e. engineers, marketers-psychologists and doctors-scientists) have examined how packaging should be prepared to succeed. However, a holistic bibliometric analysis about “packaging” and “marketing” is missing from those three branches of knowledge. This study is important to guide future lines of research to fill the identified gaps.