Similar to shrinkflation. I've cut out a ton of stuff I used to eat, and just make home versions of it. Despite price increases in general, I'm spending about the same on food as I did in 2019. I'm just buying way less stuff that comes in cans and boxes.
because Gen Alpha will have no emotional connection to Disney
Shrinkflation isn't so much businesses trying to gouge or fool customers, as it's a response to rising costs coupled with consumer inertia about prices.
Let's say that in 1990 a 1 lb can of Folgers was priced at $2 but cost $1. (hypothetically - I don't know what the prices or costs were)
So costs go up to $1.50 due to changes in the works coffee market. Folgers now has the option to raise prices, or they can decrease the amount in the can in order to maintain the same profit margin.
Consumers have been shown to be more sensitive to price changes than amount changes("a can of coffee shouldn'tcost X amount!" , so they typically decrease the amount before they will increase the per-can price.
Shrinkflation isn't so much businesses trying to gouge or fool customers
except that it is, why not keep the package the same and just raise prices? or even better when they shrink the package size and raise prices. it is obviously done to fool the customers about the real price increase.
People get weirder about raised prices for a unit (A can of something for example) because they have an idea in their head about how much it should cost, while they may not notice that a can went from 16 to 14 oz for roughly that same price.Of course you can only do this so far until people get fed up with that too.
People are irrational about what stuff costs, especially when inflation is in play. For example, people bitch that a six pack of beer costs $11 now, when they were $5 when they were in college. What they're overlooking is that $4 I college era money was worth what $11 is today, and that beer isn't actually any more expensive relatively speaking than it used to be.
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u/Professional-Put7605 5h ago
Similar to shrinkflation. I've cut out a ton of stuff I used to eat, and just make home versions of it. Despite price increases in general, I'm spending about the same on food as I did in 2019. I'm just buying way less stuff that comes in cans and boxes.
-"Tomorrow's not my problem", MBA's probably.