The relativity of values causes us to use money irrationally. I go to the supermarket to buy a $15 pen, and the clerk smiles and says, “You can buy this pen for $7 if you walk 5 minutes from here.” Then, most people walk five minutes and buy a $15 pen for $7. But if you want to buy a $1,000 jacket and the clerk smiles and says, “You can get a $992 jacket in five minutes from here,” most people simply buy the $1,000 jacket. Reasonably, walking for 5 minutes equals the effort, and the profit of $8 is the same. However, people might go to a store that sells pens cheaper, but not for the jacket, because the discount rate is too low. In other words, the relativity of comparing values makes us act irrationally. The pen’s discount rate is 55%, and the jacket’s is only 0.8%. Yet, the total amount is the same for all $8, and the effort to gain that profit is identical. Attitudes and misconceptions about consumption influence how we build wealth. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
One of the most important essentials of business is cognitive dissonance resolution. When researching who watches the Ford Motor Company commercials the most, the results are not potential customers but purchased customers. They want to confirm that their decisions were right or to receive continuous support after their purchases. Because we can never go back to the past, getting confirmation and support from someone makes us easy and comfortable beyond our regrets. So the company's strategy should focus on repurchasing the existing customers, not the new ones. In many business cases, businessmen should avoid assumptions or predictions. We shouldn't run a business depending on our thoughts only. - Joseph's "just my thoughts