ABSTRACT
It is nearly two years since the field work of the study described in this book was completed. The household product market underwent certain fluctuations. The year 1962 was experienced mainly in terms of reorganization and re-appraisal, sometimes agonizing. The market failed to stay on an upward trend, and this despite a relaxation of credit in the country. A characteristic was the success of direct selling to consumers and connected with it the attacks on resale price maintenance. Prices, particularly in product group C, dropped dramatically. Private-label brands proliferated and appeared for the first time for many years in the showrooms of the leading retail chain in the country. Most companies tried to stem sagging profits by cuts in overheads and increased internal efficiencies rather than by growth in sales volumes. Advertising expenditure fell, in some product groups by as much as one-quarter to one-third of that of 1961, as manufacturers concentrated on price action in the hope of increasing their share in a market widely accepted as being dull. Discounts to wholesalers and retailers were substantially reduced on a whole range of product groups. Although official cartel agreements do not exist, these changes have been overwhelmingly accepted among manufacturers. There is general talk of the need to merge production capacity within the industry. On the whole, the non-leaders remained non-leaders; the leaders retained their relative positions. There were, however, some noteworthy changes.
