Priceless: The Myth of Fair Value (and How to Take Advantage of It)
Jan 2010 · Sold by Hill and Wang
4.2star
13 reviews
Ebook
352
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
Prada stores carry a few obscenely expensive items in order to boost sales for everything else (which look like bargains in comparison). People used to download music for free, then Steve Jobs convinced them to pay. How? By charging 99 cents. That price has a hypnotic effect: the profit margin of the 99 Cents Only store is twice that of Wal-Mart. Why do text messages cost money, while e-mails are free? Why do jars of peanut butter keep getting smaller in order to keep the price the "same"? The answer is simple: prices are a collective hallucination.
In Priceless, the bestselling author William Poundstone reveals the hidden psychology of value. In psychological experiments, people are unable to estimate "fair" prices accurately and are strongly influenced by the unconscious, irrational, and politically incorrect. It hasn't taken long for marketers to apply these findings. "Price consultants" advise retailers on how to convince consumers to pay more for less, and negotiation coaches offer similar advice for businesspeople cutting deals. The new psychology of price dictates the design of price tags, menus, rebates, "sale" ads, cell phone plans, supermarket aisles, real estate offers, wage packages, tort demands, and corporate buyouts. Prices are the most pervasive hidden persuaders of all. Rooted in the emerging field of behavioral decision theory, Priceless should prove indispensable to anyone who negotiates.
In Priceless, the bestselling author William Poundstone reveals the hidden psychology of value. In psychological experiments, people are unable to estimate "fair" prices accurately and are strongly influenced by the unconscious, irrational, and politically incorrect. It hasn't taken long for marketers to apply these findings. "Price consultants" advise retailers on how to convince consumers to pay more for less, and negotiation coaches offer similar advice for businesspeople cutting deals. The new psychology of price dictates the design of price tags, menus, rebates, "sale" ads, cell phone plans, supermarket aisles, real estate offers, wage packages, tort demands, and corporate buyouts. Prices are the most pervasive hidden persuaders of all. Rooted in the emerging field of behavioral decision theory, Priceless should prove indispensable to anyone who negotiates.
Ratings and reviews
4.2
13 reviews
A Google user
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January 30, 2010
A fascinating, useful and well written book. This author is an expert in this area. If you have ever bought a car, negotiated with your child or been to an auction, the author is talking directly to you. The field is called psycophysics and Poundstone brings it to life. After you read this you will understand how anchoring your sell with a very high price is better for getting the highest price, why he who sets his price first has the advantage, how web pages are using background images to prime readers to make decisions and where union negotiators have a winning plan regardless of the outcome. Ever wonder how the Sierra Club negotiates and will always come out ahead of the resource companies? He tells you why you ignore what clients say they want and watch what they do. This is a must read for the CEO, CFO, CMO and every parent.
A Google user
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August 18, 2012
The best book you could ever read!
About the author
William Poundstone is the author of two previous Hill and Wang books: Fortune's Formula and Gaming the Vote.
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