Instead, we suggest they decide how much they want to spend on a broad category of “discretionary items”: the things that they can live without, like special brew coffee, fancy shoes, or a night of drinking. Take that amount, on a weekly basis, and put it on a prepaid debit card. Now they have this category of discretionary spending with a new budg

If we have high expectations for an experience, regardless of the source of these expectations, we will value it highly and be willing to pay a premium for it. If we expect less, we’ll value it less and be willing to pay less.

We also become more invested in the product by virtue of our engagement with the language.

That’s important and worth repeating: An anchor price can be any figure, no matter how random, so long as we associate it with a decision. That decision gains power and influences our future decisions moving forward. Anchoring shows the importance of early decisions about pricing, that they establish a value in our heads and affect our own value ca

itself. We should be aware of the source of expectations—whether it’s the pleasure of dreams and aspirations or the irrelevant allure of brand names, biases, and presentation. Or,

They may be the only attribute that we can easily understand, but they’re not the only attribute that matters. Consider using other criteria, even when they’re hard to measure.

Ownership changes our perspective. We adjust to our level of ownership and it becomes the baseline by which we judge gains and losses.

This is how FAIRNESS impacts our perception of value. Most people above age five, and not actively engaged in politics, understand the concept of fairness. We recognize it instantly when we see it or talk about

Whether it makes sense or not, a high price signals a high value. In the case of important things like health care, food, and clothing, it also signals that the product isn’t cheap or of low quality.