#701, Seoul YWCA, 1-1, Myeongdong 1-ga, Jung-gu, Seoul  (Postal code: 100-021)

Report Data

The Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations investigates the prices of synthetic detergent products sold in the market.

The Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations (Chairperson Kim Jae-ok) investigated the prices and unit packages of Korea's four major synthetic detergents such as Tech (LG Household & Health Care), Beat (CJ Lion), Power Clean (Oxy), and Spark (Aekyung) sold at 301 stores in five major markets such as departments (17), large discount marts (50), chain super markets (74), small and mid-sized supermarkets (154), and traditional markets and cooperative markets, which are located in 25 districts in Seoul between July 14-16, 2010.

Some big quantity products cost more than small quantity products per 100g unit.

According to the price comparison of four products per 100g, unlike consumers' general expectation that large quantity products will cost less, the price of large quantity products per 100g was higher than that of small quantity products per 100g. (Refer to Table 1 of the Appendix)

In particular, in the case of refill products, consumers could not understand why the prices of large quantity products were higher than those of small quantity products. Such a phenomenon was found from an investigation conducted in 2009, so the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations requested the concerned manufacturers to rectify the problem, but the problem has not been rectified.

The package unit of products was not standardized, and manufacturers have subdivided their products arbitrarily. The Korea National Council of Consumer recommended to the manufacturers to standardize the products by a unit of kg.

According to our investigation, the package unit of synthetic detergent was not standardized. Between the products of the lowest quantity (1kg) and the biggest quantity (10kg), there were various package units such as 10 refill types, 4 paper package types, and 2 plastic container types.(Refer to Table 2 in Appendix)

Too much subdivided quantities (2,1kg, 2,25kg, 2,7kg, 2,8kg) make consumers feel difficulties in calculating the price per unit when purchasing products and confuse consumers in selecting products. Consumers could not understand why quantities were subdivided as such. The same results were obtained from an investigation conducted in 2009, so the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations requested the concerned manufacturers to rectify the problem, but the problem has not been rectified.

The problems of too much detailed subdivided package units and irregular price per unit should be rectified as soon as possible.

The problems of too much detailed subdivided package units and irregular price per unit tend to make consumers feel difficulties in comparing prices before purchasing a product, so the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations strongly requests the concerned manufacturers and the Korean Government to rectify the problem.

We also suggest to the consumers to compare unit prices when selecting a product.

Group Members

Green Consumers Network, Korea Federation of Housewives Clubs, Citizens Alliance for Consumer Protection of Korea, National Council of Housewives Classes, Korea Women's Association, Korea Consumer Affairs Institute, Korea Consumer Education Center, Consumers Union of Korea, National Council of YMCAs of Korea, YWCA of Korea

※ Appendix

[Table 1] Price comparison of products per 100g

	Product	Quantity	Average price per 100g (Won)
Product 1	Tech	Refill 1.5kg	373
		Refill 2.1kg	418
Product 2	Tech	Refill 3kg	331
		Refill 4.3kg	371
Product 3	Tech	Container 4kg	392
		Container 4.4kg	411
Product 4	Beat	Refill 1.8kg	409
		Refill 2kg	412
Product 5	Beat	Refill 2.7kg	272
		Refill 3.2kg	383
Product 6	Power Clean	Refill 3.7kg	196
		Refill 4.5kg	222
Product 7	Spark	Refill 5.2kg	175
		Refill 6kg	202

[Table 2] Quantity of synthetic detergent products by type

Product	Type	Quantity
Tech	Refill	1.5kg, 2kg, 2,1kg, 2.7kg, 3kg, 3.2kg, 4.3kg
	Paper Box	3kg, 4kg, 4.5kg
	Container	4kg, 4.4kg
Beat	Refill	1.5kg, 1.8kg, 1.9kg, 2kg, 2.25kg, 2.7kg, 3kg, 3.2kg, 3.75kg, 4.3kg
	Paper Box	1.5kg, 3kg, 4kg, 4.5kg
	Container	1.5kg, 4.4kg
Power Clean	Refill	1.5kg, 2.7kg, 2.8kg, 3.7kg, 4kg, 4.5kg, 6kg, 7kg
	Paper Box	4.6kg
Spark	Refill	3kg, 4kg, 4.5kg, 5.2kg, 5.5kg, 6kg, 7kg, 10kg
	Paper Box	1kg, 3kg, 5kg
	Container	6kg