Does packaging affect your final purchase decision?

As the Christmas vacation nears to its end and the new year beacons I had the privilege to observe, give and receive quite a few gifts. In my case though, I was mostly on the giving end of the pleasure.

While the wrapping paper was being bought and later removed from the gifts I had given or received, one question came up. Does packaging really matter? The first thing I did was to start looking at the literature available in the area and know what, there is hardly much available. A very ripe area for research indeed.

Have you thought about similar line of questioning? What is your thought about it? How would you react to a creative vs. non-creative packaging? Will it really affect your purchase decision? Why?

Lets debate.