Shopping trends and how we spend money assignment

Shopping trends and how we spend money - Assignment Example Rather than buy separate ingredients (as in the case of the macaroni salad) and put them together ourselves, we simply go to the store and pay one price for a pre-packaged macaroni salad that someone has already put together for us. The trouble comes in the fact that this person has not done so out of the goodness of their heart – they have been paid to do this, and the cost that we pay for the salad reflects that. Another reason that the price is higher is the packaging. While the material of the packaging itself is probably no different than that of other foods, the bottom line is competition in this instance. The store is competing with other brands and ingredients to have you buy their prepackaged items, regardless of price. Do they want you to buy them? Of course! Therefore they must spend time and money on attractive packaging to make the consumer that is tired and hungry walking through the store say, â€Å"Oh. I’ll just grab this and we’ll have it with dinner.† On the whole, it came as no surprise to me that the average cost per pound of packaged food was higher than that of fresh fruit or vegetables. When packaged goods are offered to consumers, the price must reflect handling, shipping, packaging, and work needed to put together the