SUPER SIZE MAY NOT BE SUCH A GOOD DEAL.

• Position: Home economics - Brief Article

Consumers who buy "economy-size" packages thinking that they are saving money may be in for a rude awakening. A Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., study found that consumers have become so convinced larger sizes mean cheaper prices that they don't bother to compare the per-ounce costs. Certain products at the grocery store prey on this inattention by charging more per ounce--sometimes up to twice as much--for the larger sizes.

Economists call this practice "surcharging." James Binkley, professor of agricultural economics, points out that it happens frequently in grocery stores. "We don't really know how many products have a surcharge. It happens with flour, and I've seen it with toilet paper, canned chili, peanut butter, and tomato products such as ketchup."

Binkley and John Bejnarowicz, a former graduate student at Purdue, investigated whether consumers were simply willing to pay more for larger sizes for extra convenience or whether they were unaware of the actual price per ounce...