It’s the way that you say that you do it
When essentially the same item is sold at different prices, framing matters — a lot — to how it is perceived.
There is a classic behavioural economics finding from 1983 research by Nobel laureate Richard Thaler involving beer (I wrote about it here). Briefly, it features two parched people on a beach, and explores what they would be willing to pay for a cold beer. If the only place where it could be obtained was a posh hotel, the price participants would be prepared to pay was 75% higher than if it was a rundown shop. This suggests that differential pricing for the same beer is acceptable, depending on who the seller is. Different prices for the same beer from the same seller, at different times, that is a different affair, though. A few weeks ago, it transpired that British pub chain The Slug and Lettuce will shortly start charging 20 pence (23 eurocent, 24 dollarcent) more than their standard price for a pint of beer at peak times. Unsurprisingly, the social media chorus was not amused. I say, ‘unsurprisingly’, but isn’t it odd that we accept that the circumstances of a posh hotel justify its higher price compared to a humble store, but not that the conditions of a pub at busy times might justify higher price compared to a quieter moment?
