A Study of Consumer Response to the Availability of Advertised Specials

摘要

The study presents one important aspect of assessing the impact of F.T.C.'s Unavailability Rule, which concerns the advertising, availability, and mispricing of goods in supermarkets. However, without industry compliance costs and data regarding pre-rule availability levels, the study could not determine whether the Rule should be retained, modified, extended to other retail establishments or discarded. Through the use of a mail questionnaire distributed to households, the study addresses questions such as: (1) To what extent do consumers experience unavailability. (2) Are they able to take corrective action when they encounter unavailability. (3) Do they view unavailability as a problem, and (4) What value do consumers place on greater availability. Although nine out of ten consumers surveyed reported experiencing occasional difficulty in locating an advertised item, the report suggests that the unavailability of advertised specials, which led to the passage of the Unavailability Rule, may no longer be as much of a problem and that a consumer who goes to the grocery store with the expectation of buying an advertised item is generally likely to be able to fulfill this expectation.