ABSTRACT 

          In Nigeria today every citizen is faced with the problem of general prices of consumer goods or items. This problem is also felt by the business firms, government and the economy as a whole. This is why this is deemed to be an important one that needs a careful and detail study.

In this study the causes and consequence of high prices of consumer items will be highlighted, some of which are – high cost of production, high demands for these goods profit objectives of middlemen, actions of marketing/market curious, scarcity of raw materials etc. consumers are adversely affected in that they are forced to reduce consumption. The government will be forced with the problem of enacting laws and decreases to combat rise in the prices of items. Business firms seize the opportunity to expand their production capacity and the general economy will be faced with the problem of inflation.

In this project, solutions to this problem will be advanced by visiting selected markets in few town and villages in Delta State like Asaba, Warri, Sapele and Jesse etc. for primary information on the problem. And these represent the total population of Delta State in particular and Nigeria in general for this study.

In carrying out the research, the researcher will use non propability. Convenience sampling technique in sampling those towns and villages accessible to the researchers. Producers, middlemen and consumers of these items will be administered questionnaires; personal interview will also be used. Relevant literature on the problem will be consulted for secondary information.

From the above analysis, the objective of this study is to explore the causes and consequences of high prices of consumer items in Nigeria, taking some selected markets in Delta State as a case study which is in co-operated into five chapters.

Initially, is an introduction to the study, which reveals the effect and causes of the problem, the aims and objectives of the problem, the relevance of the study, the statement of the problem is in the citizens complain bitterly about the high price of items they consume. The scope of the study is also examined.

Followed is the literature review which tells us about the nature of consumer items and also how they are classified into groups. The pricing policies and strategies in business firms are also observed. The pricing objective of consumer items was also identified. The influence of other marketing mix elements on price of consumer items, the cause of high prices of consumer items, the result or consequences of high prices of consumers items and the solutions to the general problem of high prices of consumer items.

Closely followed is the research methodology and this reveals the sources of data collected, the instrument use for collecting the data, the population and sampling size and the analysis of the data techniques.

Also is the interpretation and analysis of data with the use of questionnaires and interview analysis together information from the producers and consumers.

And finally, is the conclusion and recommendation with the definition of the terms contained in the project i.e. Price, Market, Strategy, Pricing Policy, Inflation etc. Limitations of the study are also identified and this tells us about the constraints normally faced by researchers in trying to carryout research work. The finding of the research are identified in conclusion are drawn and recommendations are made

TablE OF CONTENT

Title page    -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -        i

Certification          -        -        -        -        -        -        -        ii

Dedication  -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -        iii

Acknowledgment  -        -        -        -        -        -        -       

Abstract      -        -        -        -        -        -        -        -       

Table of content    -        -        -        -        -        -        -       

CHAPTER ONE

1.0     Introduction          -        -        -        -        -        -       

1.1     Aims and Objectives       -        -        -        -        -       

1.2     Relevance of study          -        -        -        -        -       

1.3     Statement of study          -        -        -        -        -       

1.4     Scope of study      -        -        -        -        -        -

CHAPTER TWO

2.0     Literature review   -        -        -        -        -        -       

2.1     Nature of consumer goods or items     -        -        -       

2.2     Pricing policies and strategies in business firms     -       

2.3     Pricing objectives of consumer items           -        -       

2.4     Influence of other marketing mix elements on price

          Of consumer goods         -        -        -        -        -       

2.5     Causes of high prices of consumer items      -        -                     

2.6     Consequence of high prices of consumer items      -       

2.7     Solutions to the general problem of high price

          Of consumer items          -        -        -        -        -       

CHAPTER THREE

3.0     Research methodology   -        -        -        -        -       

3.1     Sources of data collected          -        -        -        -       

3.1.1  Primary source      -        -        -        -        -        -       

3.1.2  Secondary sources          -        -        -        -        -       

3.2     Instrument for data collected     -        -        -        -       

3.3     Population and sample size       -        -        -        -       

3.3.1  Sampling techniques       -        -        -        -        -       

3.4     Data analysis techniques           -        -        -        -       

CHAPTER FOUR

4.0     Interpretation and analysis of data      -        -        -       

4.1     Questionnaire and interview analysis           -        -       

CHAPTER FIVE

5.0     Conclusion and Recommendation      -        -        -       

5.1     Definition of terms          -        -        -        -        -       

5.2     Limitation of study         -        -        -        -        -       

5.3     Findings      -        -        -        -        -        -        -       

5.4     Conclusion  -        -        -        -        -        -        -       

5.5     Recommendation  -        -        -        -        -        -       

          References   -        -        -        -        -        -        -

          Bibliography         -        -        -        -        -        -       

          Appendix    -        -        -        -        -        -        -