Consumer Attitudes Toward Pricing Eggs by the Pound

Abstract

Consumer attitudes toward pricing eggs by the pound were obtained by personal interviews with egg purchasers. Major concerns were “price” and “sizes of eggs available.” Attitudes on pricing eggs by the pound ranged from strongly negative to neutral to strongly positive.Almost 19 percent of 1,561 original2 egg purchasers thought there was “no advantage” in pricing eggs by weight, and 18 percent “did not know” of any particular advantage. However, 56 percent named specific advantages, including “unit pricing,” which appealed to nine percent. A majorty (51 percent) thought there was “no disadvantage.” Only five percent mentioned the “extra work weighing, labeling, and pricing eggs.” Of consumers especially concerned about price, more purchased eggs by the pound than by the dozen. Women, who accounted for 80 percent of household food purchasers in this study, preferred pricing eggs by the pound more than men did.Twenty-three percent of the original egg purchasers compared the price or food value of eggs with that of other foods (meat, breakfast cereals, fish and dairy products, in that order). And of those 355 purchasers, 84 percent thought about “protein value.” Sixty-five percent of those who made comparisons thought that eggs were “less expensive.” A higher percentage of those who bought by the pound than by the dozen held that view.Sixty-seven percent of 112 repeat purchasers (by the pound) named specific advantages in pricing eggs by weight. The main advantage was that consumers “can buy the desired weight of eggs.” Sixty-six percent of the repeat purchasers could see “no disadvantage.” The higher their educational level the greater was the tendency among repeat purchasers to prefer eggs priced by the pound.Only 7 percent of 1,561 original egg purchasers knew the correct minimum weight of a dozen large eggs.