ATTITUDES TO FUNCTIONAL MARKS

Except marks whose English synonym is brand names, which are placed on product packages, there are also marks whose meaning is different. These are functional marks that identify package or product attribute or indicate other information relating to the product and should be useful for the consumer. Producer has to place some functional marks on the product mandatorily, others are optional. The aim of the research was to identify the frequency of functional marks on a sample of confectionery products by content analysis. Then we identified the importance of general factors influencing the choice of products by a group of respondents. On this basis, we made a test of knowledge of functional marks’ meaning. This test was the basis for analysis of functional marks’ impact on product selection and the degree of consumer confidence in selected functional marks. The research results showed that the number of functional marks on packages is growing. Their placement on the package represents a way of differentiating the product from competitors, giving product an added value and gaining a competitive advantage for producer and retailer. On the market we can also find a lot of different functional marks which are unknown to people and they do not understand their importance.