THE IMPORTANCE OF SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING FEATURES OF FOOD PRODUCTS IN THE PROCESS OF CONSUMERS’ PURCHASING DECISIONS.

Purpose: The main objective of the study is to determine the importance of sustainable food packaging features in the consumer purchasing process, taking into account differences due to selected demographic characteristics of the respondents. Design/methodology/approach: The article uses the method of critical analysis of literature, comparative method, survey, analysis, synthesis and method of logical inference. Findings: The sustainable features of food packaging were identified. Based on the analysis of the answers obtained through a survey, it was determined whether and to what extent, individual sustainable aspects of food packaging are considered and how they influence the purchasing decisions of selected group of consumers. The research has shown that, in the case of survey participants, packaging features consistent with the concept of sustainable development, are important in the opinion of the respondents, when making purchasing decisions regarding food products. Research limitations/implications: The research was conducted on a limited group of respondents who were students (both full-time and part-time students), which had a significant impact on the age structure of the respondents. Also, the research method (online survey) could have influenced the structure of respondents, which makes it impossible to conclude the entire population of consumers in Poland. Moreover, as usual in this type of research, the conclusions were based only on respondents' declarations. In addition - the study used a non-statistically verified questionnaire (in terms of validity and reliability). Practical implications: The research results can be used by food producers to make decisions regarding the selection and design of sustainable packaging. They point to sustainable packaging features that are important to buyers when making purchasing decisions. Social implications: The content presented in this article may contribute to raising public awareness of the features of food packaging related to sustainable development. Originality/value: The results of the survey confirm that consumers (esspecialy young ones) do take into account the sustainability of food packaging, although there are some differences with regard to both some characteristics of the respondents and the attributes of the packaging itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]