Packaging has been acknowledged as a strategic tool for enhancing
competitiveness of food products by experts. The purpose of this study
was to examine the relationship between packaging as an essential
tool and childrens influence on purchase decision based on the
appearance of the package. This research has tried to explore and
compare purchase decision behavior of the target audience. The
respondents in the pilot study comprised of convent school children
who were assigned a task for self expression with the D-I-Y (Do It
Yourself) tool. In the final study, school children go through a brand
identity test based on their liking and try to justify their choice. The
findings depict that the majority of the children consider colour of the
package a vital attribute in the purchase decision process of potato
chips. Around 90% of the children in the study associate the flavour
of the potato chips with the colour of the package.

Introduction
Packaging is the science, art and technology of enclosing or
protecting products for distribution, storage, sale, and use.
Packaging also refers to the process of design, evaluation, and
production of packages. Packaging can be described as a coordinated
system of preparing goods for transport, warehousing, logistics, sale,
and end use. Today it has grown in importance and is regarded as a
vital marketing tool. Packaging plays an important role in the marketing
of a product. It is an integral part in the process of communicating the
marketing objective of a specific product to the consumer (Stern 1981,
Meyer 1981, Dichter 1981). To perform its role, packaging must be
attractive, informative, and clearly identify the product and communicate
its real benefits. Nickels and Jolson (1976) have described packaging
as the fifth “P” in the marketing mix. Dichter (1981), on the other hand,
has stated that consumers tend to view a product and its packaging
as one. They tend to relate emotionally not to the facts of the products/
packages but rather to their perceived reality of the whole market entity.
In previous studies in marketing, the importance of packaging in
consumer purchasing decision has not been widely researched.