Here's a question... now that we know that this is a psychological "trick" played on people to get them to spend more of their money, is it morally wrong for those of us "in the know" to price things this way? Marketers are essentially trying to deceive people into spending more money. Yes, there is an argument that people are free to act as they please and that enough information is afforded them to make the right choice. But we wouldn't be talking about this if people actually acted rationally most of the time when it comes to this stuff. So at what point does taking advantage of irrational people cross a line from ok to wrong? Or does it? What implications would this have on businesses today if the tricks stopped?
If you wanted to stop psychological tricks, then most of advertising/marketing as we know it would disappear.
That said, it seems that people actually enjoy playing this game. Like the customers prefer convoluted schemes like this. It's not like they are completely oblivious to the tricks going on. I think it's fair to say that the vast majority of the western world is actually pretty savvy at spending their money.
But anyhow, remember what happened to JC Penny when they tried to simplify their pricing (no more sales!). They basically got murdered. Now it's partly their fault for not marketing it well (ha! look at that, you have to advertise that you're not screwing with your mind), but it's also cause it takes some of the 'fun' away.
This is true, there is definitely a lot of fun that people have trying to hunt down a "bargain". They like to feel like they got the best of those bastards that are always screwing them! Or did better than their friends, like a competition. So I do get that. But that's not the case when buying the staples of life like food and laundry or dish soap, at least not in my mind since you are forced to buy that stuff... you need it. That takes some of the fun out of it for me anyway... feels more like a bill then a choice to spend.
