What could be more shocking than finding out, when you get home, that the box of cereal you've just bought contains 20g less than the one you bought the week before? Especially since it was the same price! Has something similar ever happened to you? It's probably because the product you bought was undersized.
Undersizing, an increasingly popular phenomenon, allows manufacturers to increase the price of their product without the consumer noticing. How is this possible? A Harvard Business School study published in 2004 shows that consumers are more likely to notice a price increase than a change in the quantity of a product. Just put a little less in a container or change the packaging, and the decrease goes unnoticed.
Are Canadian consumers protected against this kind of tactic? There are currently legislative tools in place to enable them to compare prices and quantities. But one of these tools doesn't seem to be very effective in countering undersizing, and the other exists only in Quebec. It would be desirable for all Canadians to have access to such a tool.
Is undersizing legal? Under current Canadian law, it would appear so. On the other hand, the practice runs counter to marketing experts' codes of ethics and the spirit of consumer protection laws. By drawing inspiration from the regulations in force in the United States, the European Union and the United Kingdom, it would be possible to give our legislation more teeth and better protect consumers.
Should we? We think so. Even if the reduction in quantity is not always considerable, undersizing is not trivial. It has an impact on consumer purchasing decisions. It also has an impact on the competition. And who knows when it will stop...
