Who Do
Consumers
Blame?
Continued From Page 16)
dustry. Another explanation is
that the activities of the tran
sportation unions, supermarket
unions, or possibly even some
farm worker unions may have
caused consumers , t tff blame
unions for high food prices, but
this seems less plausible.
Consumers,* like those who
make public statements about
high food prices, do not agree
among themselves as to who is to
blame for rising food costs. Their
confusion reflects the complexity
of this problem. We can say
everyone comes in for some
criticism, but that no one
segment of the food industry is
getting a majority of the blame
for rising food prices.We also
wanted to find out if particular
groups of consumers were more
inclined to blame one segment of
the food industry than another.
Were those living in the city more
likely to blame farmers for high
food prices than those living in
rural areas? Were non-union
members .more likely to blame
labor unions for food costs than
union members? Answers to
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questions like these will help us
determine if certain types of
consumers have an axe to grind
with one or more of the various
segments of the food industry.
For the most part, we found
very few groups who appeared to
single out any one portion of the
food industry. Farmers were not
blamed by any one group more
than by any other. City residents
were just as likely as those living
in the country to blame farmers,
and those with high incomes
blamed farmers to about the
same degree as those with lower
incomes. In each case the
number, blaming farmers was
small. Similarly, we found no
particular groups singling out
grocery stores, consumers, or
even food manufacturers.
Some groups, however, seemed
especially inclined to blame labor
unions for high food prices. Men
were more critical than women.
Urban residents were more likely
to criticize labor unions than
rural dwellers. Those with higher
education and higher incomes
more frequently blamed unions
than did those with less education
and less income. Owners of
businesses and white collar
workers blamed unions to a
greater degree than skilled and
unskilled workers. Surprisingly,
however, union members and
others in the same household
were just as likely as those who
did not belong to unions to
mention labor unions as con
tributing to higher food costs.'
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Unions appear to be singled out
more frequently by those who'are
likely to have had the most ex
perience with them (urban
residents, the owners of
businesses, and men). The more
affluent (with higher incomes
and higher education) also were
critical of unions. Some of these
groups are known union critics,
so their attitudes are not unex
pected. But the criticism of
unions is more broadly based,
since even union members were
as likely as non-union members
to indicate that unions were to
blame for high food prices.
Perhaps the most disturbing
finding involves those who said
they didn’t know whom to blame
for rising food prices. The
response patterns for this group
were even clearer than those we
have just discussed. Those who
“didn’t know” were more likely
to be rural than urban, to have
less education, to have lower
incomes, and to feel more
financial strain. They were also
more likely to be older and to be
women rather than men. Thus,
those who “don’t know” who to
blame are generally the people
who are hurt the most by higher
food prices. We have found this
same pattern in several other
studies; those “who don’t know”
are usually those in the greatest
need, but they know least about
what is happening, why it is
happening, or what do do about it.
The results of the survey
suggest several conclusions.
PH. 717-397-3539
Lancaster Farming. Saturday. May 19.1973
First, although consumers are
upset about food prices, they are
also upset about the cost of other
goods and services as well. -So
much publicity has been focused
on food costs that it is easy to
overlook these other areas of
consumer concern.
Those interviewed did not
consider rising prices to be
inevitable. When the respondents
were asked if they believed that
something could be done to keep
the prices in the country from
getting higher, nearly 60 percent
answered in the affirmative.
Apparently a majority of con
sumers believe that prices Can be
controlled. Perhaps this belief is
based upon their perceptions of
the success of President Nixon’s
economic program. These fin
dings suggest that a potential
exists for strong consumer
demands that prices be again
brought under strict control,
because a majority of consumers
are upset about high prices but a
majority also believe that
something can be done about
holding prices down.
Because consumers’ blame for
high food prices is so dispersed, it
is, however, not likely that there
will be large scale attacks on any
particular segment of the food
industry in the near future. The
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most accessible targets-farmers
and grocery stores-are blamed
by few consumers. As a result,
widespread consumer boycotts
against grocery stores or
organized consumer pressure to
control raw food prices are not
likely on the scale that some have
suggested. There is other
evidence for this contention in the
results of a recent inventory of
Congressmen which found that
they are not receiving a great
deal of mail concerning food
costs. While labor unions were
the group blamed the most
frequently they do not seem to be
likely targets for action either.
They are not very visible in the
food industry nor are they easily
reached by consumed pressures.
What we are likely to see in the
mouths ahead, therefore, is
probably a more concerted effort
by consumers to see all prices
controlled. But it is less likely
that there will be large scale
attacks by consumers on the food
industry, particularly in the form
of demands for punitive actions
or massive boycotts. Instead we
are likely to continue to hear
much complaining and to see a
few skirmishes as well as con
tinued government action
directed toward increasing
supplies.
17