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Abstract
The widespread growth of bank (and other) charge-account plans implies a distinct
possibility that retail food marketing, as well as the food producing, processing, and
distributive sectors, indirectly, may become involved to a significant degree in a consumer
credit operation. The purpose of this report is to explore the rather complex
marketing implications posed by the injection of a combined credit mechanism and
sales promotional device into the retailing of food. Special attention is devoted to
the potential impact of the credit system on marketing costs and practices, retail prices
and competition, and consumer demand. It is hoped that the analysis in this report,
though primarily nonempirical in nature, may be useful (1) in furnishing insight into
the currently developing "credit card" situation confronting retail outlets for agricultural
products, and (2) in supplying an analytical basis that may assist interested
research workers in further analysis and empirical studies. A brief case study of the
bank-charge-account plan in one foodstore is included at the end of the article.