Retail Sales of Eggs Priced by the Dozen and Pound—A Controlled Experiment1-2

ABSTRACT In a matched-lot controlled experiment, eggs priced by the pound outsold those priced by the dozen. Consumers were given the choice of buying eggs priced by the dozen or by the pound; the egg lots were displayed side by side on a shelf. Each dozen carton sold by the pound had a label showing net weight in pounds (to two decimal places), selling price per pound, and total price per dozen. An electronic scale was used for weighing, pricing, and labeling. Eggs were priced at 46 cents a pound, comparable to 25.5 ounce-per-dozen large eggs selling for 73 cents a dozen. Medium eggs were 68 cents, and small eggs 55 cents a dozen. Results were based on a one-month test (October, 1974) in which 19,562 dozen cartons of eggs were purchased. The test market was the Main Commissary, a large supermarket, at Fort Riley, Kansas. Sixty-three percent of the consumers buying eggs during the test purchased eggs priced by the pound