Chicago, Aug 5 - Procter & Gamble Co, the world's largest consumer products company, is seeing some signs that consumers are shifting to lower-priced products as prices of everything from gasoline to food to toilet paper rise.
"We do see some evidence of trade-downs," Clayton Daley, P&G's chief financial officer, said during a conference call with analysts.
Daley cited laundry detergent as an example of a category where consumers are trading down. Analysts and investors have been watching for signs that consumers are shifting to lower-priced choices of basic goods as the U.S. economy weakens.
But Daley also said there are still categories in which consumers will spend more for new or improved products.