Retail Sales of Broilers and Meat as Affected by Price, Display Area, and Newspaper Advertising

Excerpts from the report: Research was initiated in 1962, in some Ohio supermarkets, primarily to determine whether the addition of broiler quarter cuts (breast or leg with a portion of the back attached), had a favorable or detrimental effect on broiler sales. As reported in a publication on this study, broiler sales increased 16 percent when the quarter cut was offered as an addition to the regular broiler display. The relationship of sales during the test to sales under normal merchandising practices is the basis for the present report. The analyses reported herein are concerned with the relationship: (1) Between pounds of broilers sold and the price, display size, and advertising linage given to broilers and certain other meats; and (2) between meat department sales (dollars) and the featuring of broilers, pork, turkey, stewing chickens, and beef in the test stores; and the featuring of broilers by competing stores. These comparisons were made without regard to the presence or absence of quarters. The findings indicate some of the practices that are successful in building volume both for a particular product and for the meat department