From manufacturers to supermarkets, “everyone is doing it,” deceiving shoppers with marketing strategies and mind games to disguise rising prices.
Nitika Garg, professor of marketing at UNSW Business School, says inflationary contraction, when pack sizes fall and prices stay the same, depends on buyers not realizing what is happening.
“It is a psychological phenomenon where if the change in a product is below a certain threshold, people do not recognize that a change has occurred,” said Professor Garg.
‘People don’t realize that they are getting less or paying more for less.
‘That’s what’s happening in our market right now.
‘Everyone is doing it. Producers do it and supermarkets, as producers of packaged products, do it too.’
Professor Garg said many shoppers might not realize what was happening to their food if they did not closely monitor prices and quantities week after week.
He said it was a common strategy that manufacturers and retailers employ when they don’t want consumers to worry about paying more and was often hidden behind a marketing concept called “just noticeable difference.”
Experts say supermarkets such as Coles (pictured) and Woolworths are misleading shoppers with marketing strategies and mind games to disguise rising prices.
Many shoppers may not be aware of the inflationary squeeze if they don’t keep an eye on the prices or sizes of grocery items while doing their weekly shopping (pictured, a Woolworths in Brisbane).
To end this practice, the federal government will implement a stricter unit pricing code, allowing customers to compare the cost of products by weight or volume.
Supermarkets that violate the enhanced code will face heavy penalties.
The measures come after the consumer watchdog received $30 million to investigate bad practices at supermarkets.
A Coles spokesperson said the company was committed to keeping prices low in its stores.
In a statement, a Woolworths spokesperson said the company was rolling out electronic shelf labels and, after listening to customer feedback, had made changes to improve the readability of unit prices.
“Changes to packaging sizes for branded products are decisions made by the supplier and are not common across Woolworths’ own brand range of products,” they said.
Coles and Woolworths account for almost 70 per cent of supermarket retail sales nationwide.