In today’s increasingly digital world, print media continues to play a strong role in an omni-channel marketing plan. However, every element in the marketing mix must work harder to connect with people in our current a media-saturated environment.
As a result, printing technology has continued to evolve to keep up with ever-increasing demands of high-quality at speed. Newer digital presses using toner and inkjet technology allow marketers to do smaller, high-quality runs faster and more economically than ever before. Beyond theses operational benefits, new printing technology now allows marketers and brands to inject more creativity into their work by adding embellishments or enhancements to their printed materials, moving them beyond the two-dimensional page. 
This new approach for decorative printing uses inkjet technology combined with inks that are cured using ultraviolet light to deliver spot gloss and clear dimensional printing. The results are more engaging and offer a tactile experience for the end user. Marketers can now create printed pieces with a 3D effect that feels very much like the object being depicted. For instance, a beverage maker can print an image of a cold drink with condensation droplets that stand out or someone conveying a message about golfing can depict a golf ball with dimples you can feel. The opportunities are only limited by a designer’s imagination. While there is a certain novelty to this type of effect when people experience it for the first time, it goes deeper than that in terms of buying psychology.
There have been a number of studies about how the sense of touch or the inclusion of tactile elements in printed material can increase consumer attitudes and purchase intentions for products. Products that attract visual attention make consumers more likely to touch and interact with them. If they touch them, they are even more likely to purchase them. A study entitled “The Effect of Mere Touch on Perceived Ownership” by Joann Peck and Suzanne Shu found that “merely touching an object results in an increase in perceived ownership of that object. For nonowners or buyers, perceived ownership can be increased with either mere touch or with imagery encouraging touch”. Quantitatively, this study demonstrated that vision and touch increase psychological ownership and valuation over vision alone by 22% and 24% respectively.
According to another study, by Joann Peck with Jennifer Wiggins, a product package that is interesting to touch may increase sales of the product even if the opportunity to touch does not provide additional product attribute information.
Decorative printing provides marketers and their designers an entirely new set of tools that allow them to bring their message to life and ensure their communications are working as hard as possible in terms of capturing attention but also driving a higher degree of engagement, interest and purchase intent.
Get in touch with us if you’d like to learn more about printing embellishment and how it can work for your applications.