Consumer confusion in the selection of supermarket products

Abstract

THE MATTER OF TRUTH IN THE PACKAGING AND PRICING OF PRODUCTS IN THE AMERICAN MARKETPLACE HAS BEEN A SUBJECT OF PUBLIC CONTROVERSY IN RECENT YEARS. BY TREATING "TRUTH" OR "CONFUSION" AS POINTS ON AN UNDERLYING PSYCHOLOGICAL DIMENSION, AN ATTEMPT WAS MADE TO DEFINE THE ISSUES IN THIS CONTROVERSY MORE OBJECTIVELY. 3 BEHAVIORALLY BASED QUANTITATIVE MEASURES OF CONFUSION IN UNIT-PRICE INFORMATION FOR PACKAGED PRODUCTS WERE DEVELOPED, AND APPLIED IN A SUPERMARKET SETTING. 33 YOUNG MARRIED WOMEN WERE INSTRUCTED TO SELECT THE MOST ECONOMICAL PACKAGE FOR EACH OF 20 PRODUCTS ON DISPLAY AT A LOCAL SUPERMARKET. EACH OF THE 3 MEASURES EMPLOYED PROVED TO BE HIGHLY RELIABLE, BASED ON A RETEST OF 13 OF THE SS, AND REASONABLY VALID, WHEN CORRELATED WITH AN INDEPENDENT MEASURE OF CONSUMER CONFUSION. SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES WERE FOUND FOR THE SET OF PRODUCTS ON ALL 3 MEASURES OF CONFUSION, AND THERE IS REASON TO BELIEVE THAT THESE DIFFERENCES REFLECT, AT LEAST IN PART, DIFFERENCES IN PACKAGING PRACTICES. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved)