Polish final purchasers' expectations towards the features of dairy product packaging in the context of buying decisions

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to identify and to make an in-depth analysis of importance of the environmental elements of dairy product packaging during consumer buying decisions process according to these elements' compliance with consumer expectations. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is of theoretical and empirical character. In the theoretical part, the cognitive-and-critical analysis of the world's literature on marketing and marketing management was applied. In the empirical part, such research methods were used as: questionnaire survey for gathering primary data and statistical analysis (including factor analysis and cluster analysis) for the analysis of the primary data and for the statistical reasoning, which made the basis for the final conclusions. Findings - On the basis of the research, it is possible to state that: environmental features of dairy product packaging are of great significance for the respondents, and meeting their expectations in this respect influences positively their buying decisions. Originality/value - The original contribution of the paper to theory is the identification of Polish purchasers' expectations toward elements of dairy product packaging in the context of their buying decisions taken thanks to the fact that their expectations concerning the features of packaging are fulfilled. This knowledge makes it possible for offerers to manage efficiently and effectively dairy product packaging as a tool of influencing recipients, as well as to shape properly and use their marketing potential, which, in turn, determines the applicability value of the research and the conclusions drawn on the basis of the results.