PRODUCT PACKAGING AND PROFITABILITY OF SELECTED SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES IN ENUGU STATE

The study examined the influence of product packaging on profitability of bakery firms in Enugu State. Survey research design was used for this study. Data for the study were obtained through questionnaire administered to 350 respondents across the three senatorial districts in Enugu State. A purposive sampling was used to select the respondents for this study. A total of 322 copies of questionnaire were retrieved and used for the analysis. Two hypotheses were formulated and tested at 0.05 level of significance. Data obtained for the study were analyzed using tables, frequency and percentage while hypotheses were tested using multiple linear regression. The findings revealed that there was significant positive relationship between design of wrapper and printed information on profitability of small and medium bakery firms in Enugu State. This implies that when there is an improvement in design of wrapper and printed information on bakery products there will be significant positive influence on the profitability of the bakery firms. It concluded that packaging plays an important role in marketing and could be treated as one of the vital components of product that influence profitability. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended among others that attention should be given to the overall improvement of design of wrapper and printed information by bakery firms in offering their products to the target market.