This exercise helps students evaluate product packaging using an established framework:  the VIEW Model.  It works well as an opening application for a discussion on how packaging is used as a promotional tool.  The primary learning objective is to achieve higher level learning about packaging relative to a model.  Once students learn this framework, they can use the  VIEW Model to Evaluate Competitors.

1. Divide students into small groups of 3-5 members.

2. Give one* different product package (e.g., cereal box, diskettes, egg cartons, ketchup, snack foods, etc.) to each group.  In the overall mix of packages, include a variety of store brands and manufacturer's brands.

3. Each group is asked to look at their assigned package for 2-3 minutes.  The purpose of this "quiet time" is to allow students to develop ideas for an independent critique.

4. Provide each group with a large 11" x 14" sheet of paper or a posterboard.  One person in the group is designated as a recorder of student responses.  The recorder creates two columns labeled "positive" and "negative" on the paper.

5. In a round-robin fashion, the group critiques the package with each member taking turns expressing a statement about the product package.  The recorder writes the student responses into one of the two columns based on whether it is a positive statement (what they did right with the package) or a negative statement (what they did wrong or could improve upon with the package).  The group continues to generate ideas until there are at least 10 positive and 10 negative statements.

6. Next, the instructor provides a lecture on the VIEW Model as a method for evaluating product packaging (c.f., Terrence Shimp, Advertising and Promotion, 5^th edition, 226-230).  The instructor should define and provide examples of each of the four components of the VIEW Model.  In brief, the four components are as follows:

   1. Visibility:  The ability to attract attention at the point of purchase.

   2. Information:  Product usage instructions, claimed benefits, slogans, and supplementary information printed on the package.

   3. Emotional Appeal:  The ability of a package to evoke a desired feeling or mood.

   4. Workability:  How the package functions rather than how it communicates (e.g., protects product, environmentally friendly, fits on shelf, etc.)

7. After the lecture, students classify their 10 positive and 10 negative statements according to the VIEW model.  For example, if students said a positive statement such as "the package is easy to carry," it would be classified as "workability."

8. Students are asked to review their classification scheme and draw conclusions about their package in light of the VIEW Model.  Students may find that their critique was biased towards one component of the VIEW Model without considering other components.  Students may observe that one component of the VIEW Model is more important than other components.  The objective at this stage is for students to synthesize their critique based on the VIEW Model framework.

9. One member from each group makes a brief 1-2 minute presentation of their findings.  The presenter is asked to show the package and present their critique in terms of the VIEW Model.

*A variation of this exercise is that each group gets two to three packages to compare and contrast.

Another variation of this exercise is that students can use the VIEW Model to Evaluate Competitors.