More shoppers buying economy-sized items to save money in hard times

CHICAGO Given the current state of the economy, nearly half of U.S. consumers are looking to help stretch their dollars by buying larger economy-sized offerings, according to a consumer survey released by the Nielsen Company on Tuesday.

Conversely, only 17 percent of consumers prefer new, smaller pack products at lower pricepoints.

“Without question, this is an extremely tough time for today’s consumer,” said Todd Hale, senior vice president, consumer and shopper insights for the Nielsen Company. “CPG manufacturers and retailers have few options to manage rising commodity costs beyond absorbing increased costs, passing on increases to consumers by raising prices or cover increased costs by downsizing offerings,” he said. “Downsizing, in particular, is not a new option—we’ve seen downsizing over the last few years in a number of categories, including ice cream, cereal, candy bars, salty snacks and paper products.”