Consumers engage with connected packaging—packaging with different technologies such as QR, NFC and AR—for a range of reasons, and they have certain wants and expectations about the experience as well.

A survey from SharpEnd found that more than three-quarters of U.S. consumers (77 percent) want connected packaging to help them learn how to recycle products. More than six in 10 (63 percent) consumers want it to educate them on how sustainable a product is. SharpEnd’s research also showed that consumers are more likely (68 percent) to buy products if its connected packaging included access to information about ingredients or materials.

Connected packaging is also becoming more appealing to consumers. They survey found that more than a third of consumers want to see large, prominent displays of QR codes, and more than two-thirds (76 percent) said they would use their smartphones to scan products if it was easy to do so. The survey also found some differences in consumer expectations of the technology itself. Augmented reality brings an external virtual world to life, for example, and consumers were most interested in seeing it used in clothing and footwear marketing.