What do we want? Control!
Control and freedom of choice are important to us, and we are prepared to pay real money for it. But things are not always that simple…
‘A la carte’ — a posh French phrase that implies something that is bespoke, something that is tailored to our specific preferences. It means that we can choose. The term stems from the pleasant world of gastronomy, where restaurants often offer a set menu on the one hand, and a wide range of starters, main courses, second courses, desserts and goodness knows what more, on the other hand.
The remarkable observation is that the price of the set menu is almost always a good deal lower than it would cost to order the same courses separately from the general menu. Cynics might argue that this is because the dishes in question are smaller when they are part of the set menu, but I have never seen any evidence to support such claim. It is not the motivation behind the restaurateur’s pricing approach that is really interesting, though. Far more intriguing is the fact that we appear to be willing to pay more for a menu that we assemble ourselves, than for one that has been constructed for us.
