Food companies are using copycat packaging to trick shoppers into buying their products
The lookalike product is mistaken for the brand in 20 per cent of cases when both are present on shelves
RETAILERS are misleading shoppers into buying their products by using copycat packaging similar to well-known competitors.
Research by British Brands Groups found that Brits shop on autopilot and are fooled by products in similar packaging.
Using eye-tracking technology, the study monitored the time shoppers took to find products, the accuracy of decision-making and participants’ recall of the products they had seen.
It found that the lookalike product is mistaken for the brand in 20 per cent of cases when both are present on shelves.
This increases to 64 per cent when only the copycat version is present.
Older shoppers and those with colour disorders or blurred vision are likely to be the most vulnerable to the trick.
The study cited examples such as McVitie's digestives, Kellogg's Frosties, Jacob's cream crackers and Cadbury's eggs.
John Noble, director at British Brands Group, warned that similar packaging that misleads shoppers is unlawful but goes unchallenged in the UK.
He said: "In the supermarket, there are thousands of products and these are everyday purchases."
";We devote seconds to each and rely on shortcuts to make our choices. Products in similar packaging prey on this, prompting mistakes and encouraging false assumptions."
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The research comes after consumer group Which? in 2013 found some 150 products in similar packaging and revealed that, of the 2,244 people surveyed, 20 per cent reported buying a copy by mistake instead of the brand.
The Sun Online previously revealed hilarious pictures of the most misleading food packaging on the shelves.
Budget retailers Aldi and Lidl have also become known for their copycat versions of "luxury" products at a fraction of the price.
This summer Aldi brought back it's hugely popular candles, which it claims smell exactly like posh ones from Jo Malone.
Earlier this year, The Sun Online revealed an Aldi floor lamp that looked almost identical to one sold by John Lewis but costs less than half the price.
While its range of hampers last Christmas looked very similar to those from luxury retailer Fortnum & Mason - but with a price tag that was £126 cheaper.
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