The Not so Incredible Shrinking Box...

In a time of rising commodity prices, manufacturers have discovered new ways to pass on increasing costs to consumers without raising prices. Ten years ago when you purchased a pack of Wrigley's PlenTPak you would have bought a pack with 17 sticks of gum, today you would only be buying 15 sticks. Food manufacturers have long been aware that even price increases as low as one cent have drastic impacts on consumer's buying habits. In the grocery world stores are afraid of even the smallest increases on goods that consumers purchase routinely, and pressure has helped develop a new form of passing on the costs associated with the manufacturing of food. Today, manufacturers are racing to keep prices equal while covertly decreasing the amount of product being packaged.

This does not only apply to chewing gum, but also to staples such as cereal, orange juice, yogurt, ice cream, and margarine. The manufacturers have been slowly reducing the amount of product being placed into the containers, and all the while most consumers have remained in the dark. Manufacturers either modify the packaging so it appears customers are getting the old amount, making bottles smaller but taller for example or they keep the packaging the same. The standard size for orange juice used to be 96 ounces, but today many brands are packaged with only 89 ounces, while the containers appear to be identical in size.

Consumers failing to realize there is less product in the package is a result of not keeping tabs on the ounces of individual products month to month, as well as their use of heuristics. As we discussed in class, heuristics are mental shortcuts we use to make mental judgments. Most consumers do not suspect manufacturers would "trick" them, and when glancing at the seemingly same amount of product they assume the amount of ounces are the same. They make the mistake of quickly assuming based on the appearance of the product rather than examining the numbers and coming up with the accurate conclusions. Manufacturers know this about consumers and are getting away with sneakily downsizing products.

Air is the new best friend of the marketer, as cereal boxes remain the same size and the bags inside are now filled with less product and more air. Frito Lay may have started this trend years ago when bags of Lays potato chips and Doritos began to weigh less, but appeared to be the same size due to the addition of air instead of chips.

Experts warn consumers to be wary when they shop and say that checking unit prices is the consumers best defense. However, most consumers confide that unit prices can be confusing and often times different, or changing, unit sizes can make comparisons difficult. Some consumers say that it is simply too time consuming to compare unit prices. Of course one thing to keep in mind is that unit prices are remaining stable, it is the actual quantity within the packaging that is shrinking.

Sources:
Food packages hide reduced contents

America's Shrinking Groceries