To consider only the technical aspects would be to limit the role of packaging to protecting the product, and totally neglect the sales and communication functions.
However, it has already been stated, in the analysis of packaging functions
[1]
, that packaging "must protect what it sells, and sell what it protects".
That's why, over the last fifty years or so - in fact, since the development of self-service - the marketing functions of packaging have been analyzed, dissected, studied and thus widely highlighted.
But while the technical functions, which are older, more objective and easier to measure a priori, have been the subject of constant improvement since the origins of the various packaging designs, the marketing functions, which are newer, more subjective and easier to assess a posteriori, have yet to be fully developed.
Note :
Readers interested in the subject of packaging can consult the references
[1]
to
[6]
in Techniques de l'Ingénieur.