The United States is a big country with a big landmass — and a reputation for bigness in almost all things. The Philippines on the other hand, is a mid-sized nation comprised of 7,000 or so islands — and is a place that appears to have more affinity with the small. Both of these national tendencies are reflected in packaging sizes.

In this issue of Synovate In:fact we take a brief look at two similar Global Omnibus surveys recently conducted into consumer preferences in packaging sizes in the Philippines and the United States. Each study involved 1,000 respondents.
     

     
Good things in small packages

US respondents were asked what they bought in sachets, and why. Overall, 60% of respondents said they bought sachet-sized servings of various items. The most popular item was toothpaste, bought by 40% of respondents. In fact, all the top six items bought were in the personal care category, followed by sugar, laundry detergents and condiments, bought by 17%, 15% and 15% of respondents respectively.

When asked why they chose the smaller sizes, 55% of US respondents replied that it was "easy for travelling". Another 17% preferred the small sizes because of their "ease of use". Only 4% bought the small sizes because "the price was right". Another 4% chose small because it was "convenient", and only 2% said the sachet size "represents value for money".

     
     
Big time USA

The US survey went on to probe preferences for buying products in bulk or family sizes. Overall, 85% of respondents confirmed that they did buy big-sized items. Laundry detergent was the item most bought in bulk, with a score of 77%. Then came shampoo with 62%, toothpaste, with 57% and condiments, with 55%. As to be expected, perishables scored low, with meat, flour, milk, fruit and eggs all in the low single digit figures.

With SUVs, giant malls and bucket-sized soft drink containers, the US is remarkable for its super sizes. When asked the main reason why they bought in bulk, 37% of respondents said, "the price was right". A quarter of respondents said, "they do not need to replace them for a long time". Another 15% said that "this represents value for money". Only 4% said that bulk means "easy to use", and a mere 1.4% said they had a big family or were big users of the product.

     
     
If all things were equal

US respondents were asked what sizes would they prefer if value for money were not an issue. Almost half of respondents said they'd go for the medium or regular size. The bulk or family size would be the choice of 46%. And only 3% would opt for sachets or single use sizes.

     
     
Small size those fries

Over in the Philippines, consumer attitudes to packaging sizes stand in stark contrast to those in the USA. For a start, nearly 90% of consumers said they bought items in sachet sizes. Of these 99% said they bought non-food items in sachets. Shampoo topped the list, bought by 90% of respondents, followed by toothpaste and detergent powder, which were bought by 47% and 13% of interviewees respectively.

Sachets of food were less popular, with 30% of Filipinos saying they bought food items. Topping the list was coffee, with 17% of respondents choosing sachets over bigger packs.

     
     
One thing at a time

Another uniquely Philippine custom is to buy items in tingi. This is basically consumer items sold in very small units, probably in ways not intended by the producer. In the Philippines you can buy a large variety of items in a single serving, such as a single cigarette, a bottle of petroleum, a single disposable diaper, one painkiller pill. The survey found that 63% of all respondents bought items in tingi. Respondents indicated that perceived price advantages were behind most tingi preferences.

Filipino cell-phone users are also able to send each other small units of talk-time credit, a service called pasa-load or share-a-load. The survey found that 47% of respondents have used this service, and most used it to share cell-phone time between family members.