Do You Think Economically?
Posted on | November 21, 2008 | 7 Comments
When most Americans are posed with this question, they think, of course I think economically. When the question is framed with a story, the answer is often that they do NOT think economically. Consider the following situation:
You buy tickets for yourself and another person of your choice to go to a high priced concert. Tickets are $250 a piece and you buy both of them. You remember putting the tickets in your coat pocket before leaving. When you get to the concert you realize the tickets are no longer in your pocket. You have the option to go buy another set of tickets with a credit card for $500 or to just go home and forget the event. Most people, when posed with this question, state that they are so frustrated that they do not even want to go to the concert, they would rather go home and save the money.
Once again, the same situation occurs, but instead of buying the tickets ahead of time, you put $500 in your pocket to purchase the tickets. You are certain the money was in your pocket when you left home, but when you get to the concert the money is gone. Once again, you have the option to pay for a new set of tickets with a credit card or just go home and forget the concert. When posed with this question, the majority of people say they would buy the tickets with a credit card to get into the show.
Why do individuals feel this way? It is the same amount either way. $1000 is going to be spent on the tickets if you lost $500 or if you lost the two tickets on the way. So, my question to you is, would you answer the same way to each question? If yes, then you are definitely and economical thinker.
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7 Responses to “Do You Think Economically?”
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November 23rd, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Um………I wouldn’t pay that much for concert tickets in the first place! Hell $500 will buy a set of really good tires, 3TB of hard drive, a really nice lens to make my work a little easier or if I want to use it to entertain a nice new grill and a bunch of steaks to have a BBQ friends.
November 23rd, 2008 @ 8:49 pm
I’m with Ron… there are a lot of things I’d rather spend $500 on. I flinch if the price for a concert is over $25.
November 23rd, 2008 @ 8:51 pm
But, to answer the question, I would just go home. There is no way I would spend $1,000 just to go to a concert. I would be pretty bummed that I lost $500 too.
I think that if the concert was priced much less, like $25, and I really wanted to go, I might fork out an extra $50 so that I and my companion would attend. Any more than that, though, and we might just go get some ice cream instead
November 24th, 2008 @ 12:22 am
excellent question. I think you have captured what most people would do very correctly. It would be nice to carry out a survey still.
I wonder why we do that? Somewhere there is a lesson for marketers here.
November 24th, 2008 @ 1:07 pm
It is known as mental framing. When a situation is portrayed to a human, they frame it in the way they deem logical. It seems logical to get more tickets if you lost money, but not logical if you lost the tickets; I am not sure why this is.
January 14th, 2009 @ 2:40 pm
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