Shrinkflation and Consumer Demand

References

• Barrett J, Rachwani M (2023) The curse of shrinkflation: How food is being sneakily downsized—But prices aren’t. The Guardian Australia (October 11), https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/aug/02/shrinkflation-groceries-packaging-size-decrease-brands-.Google Scholar
• Benveniste A (2023) ‘Shrinkflation’ isn’t a trend—It’s a permanent hit to your wallet. BBC (October 11), https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20230922-shrinkflation-isnt-a-trend-its-a-permanent-hit-to-your-wallet.Google Scholar
• Biden J (2024) Remarks of President Joe Biden—State of the Union address. White House, Washington, DC. Retrieved November 18, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/speeches-remarks/2024/03/07/remarks-of-president-joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-as-prepared-for-delivery-2/.Google Scholar
• Brown J, Hossain T, Morgan J (2010) Shrouded attributes and information suppression: Evidence from the field. Quart. J. Econom. 125(2):859–876.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Butters RA, Sacks DW, Seo B (2022) How do national firms respond to local cost shocks? Amer. Econom. Rev. 112(5):1737–1772.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Çakır M (2022) Retail pass-through of package downsizing. Agribusiness 38(2):259–278.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Çakır M, Balagtas JV (2014) Consumer response to package downsizing: Evidence from the Chicago ice cream market. J. Retailing 90(1):1–12.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Çakır M, Balagtas JV, Okrent AM (2013) The effects of package downsizing on food consumption. Retrieved March 3, https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/150680/?v=pdf.Google Scholar
• Casey RP, Baldwin T, Warren E, Rosen J, Booker CA, Whitehouse S, Brown S, Murray P, Sanders B (2024) Shrinkflation Prevention Act of 2024. 118th Congress, S.3819. Accessed January 2025, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/3819/text.Google Scholar
• Chalioti E, Serfes K (2024) Shrinkflation. Econom. Lett. 244:111959.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Chandon P, Ordabayeva N (2017) The accuracy of less: Natural bounds explain why quantity decreases are estimated more accurately than quantity increases. J. Experiment. Psych. General 146(2):250–268.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Chetty R, Looney A, Kroft K (2009) Salience and taxation: Theory and evidence. Amer. Econom. Rev. 99(4):1145–1177.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Danley S (2022) How lower-income households are responding to grocery inflation. Supermarket Perimeter (August 19), https://www.supermarketperimeter.com/articles/8562-how-lower-income-households-are-responding-to-grocery-inflation.Google Scholar
• Davidson P (2023) Inflation is battering lower-income households most as food, housing costs soar, Fed study says. USA Today (January 18), https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2023/01/18/inflation-hurts-lower-income-households-food-housing-costs-rise/11074945002/.Google Scholar
• DellaVigna S (2009) Psychology and economics: Evidence from the field. J. Econom. Literature 47(2):315–372.Crossref, Google Scholar
• DellaVigna S, Gentzkow M (2019) Uniform pricing in US retail chains. Quart. J. Econom. 134(4):2011–2084.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Döpper H, MacKay A, Miller N, Stiebale J (2025) Rising markups and the role of consumer preferences. J. Political Econom. 133(8):2462–2505.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Ellison G (2005) A model of add-on pricing. Quart. J. Econom. 120(2):585–637.Google Scholar
• Ellison G, Ellison SF (2009) Search, obfuscation, and price elasticities on the internet. Econometrica 77(2):427–452.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Ellison G, Wolitzky A (2012) A search cost model of obfuscation. RAND J. Econom. 43(3):417–441.Crossref, Google Scholar
• European Parliament (2022) ‘Shrinkflation’—A deceptive marketing practice. Commission protection for consumers against the phenomenon of product downsizing. Retrieved October 11, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/doceo/document/E-9-2022-002635\_EN.html.Google Scholar
• Evangelidis I (2024) Frontiers: Shrinkflation aversion: When and why product size decreases are seen as more unfair than equivalent price increases. Marketing Sci. 43(2):280–288.Link, Google Scholar
• Feldman NE, Ruffle BJ (2015) The impact of including, adding, and subtracting a tax on demand. Amer. Econom. J. Econom. Policy 7(1):95–118.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Finkelstein A (2009) E-ztax: Tax salience and tax rates. Quart. J. Econom. 124(3):969–1010.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Gabaix X, Laibson D (2006) Shrouded attributes, consumer myopia, and information suppression in competitive markets. Quart. J. Econom. 121(2):505–540.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Goldin J, Homonoff T (2013) Smoke gets in your eyes: Cigarette tax salience and regressivity. Amer. Econom. J. Econom. Policy 5(1):302–336.Crossref, Google Scholar
• GS1 US (2023) GTIN management guidelines, net content. Retrieved January 3, https://www.gs1.org/1/gtinrules/en/rule/266/declared-net-content.Google Scholar
• Harris-Lagoudakis K, Wan X, Crespi JM (2024) Shrinkflation, unit price disclosure, and consumer welfare: Evidence from canned tuna. Preprint, submitted December 19, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4994447.Google Scholar
• Hausman JA (1996) Valuation of new goods under perfect and imperfect competition. Bresnahan TF, Gordon RJ, eds. The Economics of New Goods (University of Chicago Press, Chicago), 207–248.Google Scholar
• Heidhues P, Kőszegi B (2018) Behavioral industrial organization. Bernheim BD, DellaVigna S, Laibson D, eds. Handbook of Behavioral Economics: Applications and Foundations, 1st ed., vol. 1 (North Holland, Amsterdam), 517–612.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hitsch GJ, Hortaçsu A, Lin X (2021) Prices and promotions in U.S. retail markets. Quant. Marketing Econom. 19(3):289–368.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Hossain T, Morgan J (2006) …plus shipping and handling: Revenue (non) equivalence in field experiments on eBay. B. E. J. Econom. Anal. Policy 6(2):1–27.Google Scholar
• Janssen A, Kasinger J (2024) Obfuscation and rational inattention. J. Indust. Econom. 72(1):390–428.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Kim IK (2024) Consumers’ preference for downsizing over package price increases. J. Econom. Management Strategy 33(1):25–52.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Konish L (2024) What is shrinkflation? Here’s why consumers may be getting less for their money. CNBC (March 17), https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/17/shrinkflation-why-consumers-might-be-getting-less-for-their-money.html.Google Scholar
• Lee Y (2024) Shrinkflation: Evidence on product downsizing and consumer response. Preprint, submitted December 13, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5053745.Google Scholar
• Lempert P (2023) Shoppers speak up! #shrinkflation and #foodcrimes in their supermarkets. Forbes (February 27), https://www.forbes.com/sites/phillempert/2023/02/27/shoppers-speak-up-shrinkflation-and-foodcrimes-in-their-supermarkets/.Google Scholar
• McNair K (2023) Getting less for the same price? Explore how the CPI measures “shrinkflation” and its impact on inflation. Beyond Numbers Prices Spending 12(2). Retrieved October 11, https://www.bls.gov/opub/btn/volume-12/measuring-shrinkflation-and-its-impact-on-inflation.htm.Google Scholar
• Meeker I (2021) Does Peter Piper pick a package of pepper inattentively? The consumer response to product size changes. Preprint, submitted September 14, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3943201.Google Scholar
• Meyersohn N (2024) America revolted against Tostitos and Ruffles. Now they’re making big changes. CNN (December 2), https://edition.cnn.com/2024/10/16/business/tostitos-chips-shrinkflation-pepsi/index.html.Google Scholar
• Moshary S, Tuchman A, Vajravelu N (2023) Gender-based pricing in consumer packaged goods: A pink tax? Marketing Sci., ePub ahead of print July 18, https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2023.1452.Link, Google Scholar
• Neiman B, Vavra J (2023) The rise of niche consumption. Amer. Econom. J. Macroeconomics 15(3):224–264.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Nevo A (2001) Measuring market power in the ready-to-eat cereal industry. Econometrica 69(2):307–342.Crossref, Google Scholar
• NIST (2024) A guide to U.S. retail pricing laws and regulations. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Gaithersburg, MD. Retrieved November 11, https://www.nist.gov/pml/owm/national-legal-metrology/us-retail-pricing-laws-and-regulations.Google Scholar
• Ochirova N (2017) The impact of shrinkflation on CPIH, UK: January 2012 to June 2017. Office for National Statistics, Newport, Wales. https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/theimpactofshrinkflationoncpihuk/january2012tojune2017.Google Scholar
• Ordabayeva N, Chandon P (2013) Predicting and managing consumers’ package size impressions. J. Marketing 77(5):123–137.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Reuters (2024) France orders retailers to display shrinkflation. Reuters.com (October 18), https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/france-orders-retailers-display-shrinkflation-2024-04-19/.Google Scholar
• Rojas C, Jaenicke EC, Page E (2024) Shrinkflation? Quantifying the impact of changes in package size on food inflation. Preprint, submitted April 23, https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4804636.Google Scholar
• Rossi PE (2014) Even the rich can make themselves poor: A critical examination of IV methods in marketing applications. Marketing Sci. 33(5):655–672.Link, Google Scholar
• Sallee JM (2011) The surprising incidence of tax credits for the Toyota Prius. Amer. Econom. J. Econom. Policy 3(2):189–219.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Shapiro BT, Hitsch GJ, Tuchman AE (2021) TV advertising effectiveness and profitability: Generalizable results from 288 brands. Econometrica 89(4):1855–1879.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Strulov-Shlain A (2023) More than a penny’s worth: Left-digit bias and firm pricing. Rev. Econom. Stud. 90(5):2612–2645.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Taubinsky D, Rees-Jones A (2018) Attention variation and welfare: Theory and evidence from a tax salience experiment. Rev. Econom. Stud. 85(4):2462–2496.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Toeniskoetter C (2022) Meet the man on a mission to expose sneaky price increases. New York Times (November 26), https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/26/climate/fighting-shrinkflation-consumer-products.html.Google Scholar
• Webb R, Zhao C, Osborne M, Landry P, Camerer C (2022) A neuro-autopilot theory of habit: Evidence from canned tuna. Preprint, submitted June 14, https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4130496.Google Scholar
• Yao J, Oppewal H, Wang D (2020) Cheaper and smaller or more expensive and larger: How consumers respond to unit price increase tactics that simultaneously change product price and package size. J. Acad. Marketing Sci. 48(6):1075–1094.Crossref, Google Scholar
• Yonezawa K, Richards TJ (2016) Competitive package size decisions. J. Retailing 92(4):445–469.Crossref, Google Scholar