What Would You Pay for This Meal?

The New York Times:

How often have you bought something you felt wasn’t worth the money?

What if you could set the price?

What factors would influence your number?

For years, behavioral scientists have studied such questions.

They often look at a model called P.W.Y.W. (Pay-what-you-want, that is.) The idea may seem like a consumer’s giddiest fantasy. But a real-life extreme version of the experiment unfolding at a restaurant in Montclair, N.J., is affirming the researchers’ predictions. It has been triggering a panoply of reactions — including anxiety, delight, incredulity, guilt and, yes, rampant opportunism.

…

“The majority of people want to take advantage of the offer, but also recognize that it feels weird,” said Kathleen D. Vohs, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota who writes about the psychology of money. “So they limit what they order, do a good job of valuing it, and then walk back from what it’s worth.”

But at least once a night, the staff gets a bad taste — such as from the “young, smug” table of five that ordered 25 dishes, paid $15 and left a $5 tip.

Read the whole story: The New York Times