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.

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無價:洞悉大眾心理玩轉價格遊戲

威廉·龐德斯通 美國 作傢、懷疑論者。 曾在麻省理工學院學習物理學，現定居於洛杉磯； 長期為《紐約時報》、《經濟學傢》等知名報刊以及美國一些電視颱撰稿，是《哈帕斯》雜誌和《紐約時報》書評專欄的長期撰稿人； 迄今已齣版著作十餘部，主要著作有《財富公式：玩轉拉斯 維加斯和華爾街的故事》（2008年，萬捲齣版公司）《操縱選票：為什麼電子計票器不公平》《如何移動富士山》《卡爾·薩根》《囚徒的抉擇》《推理迷宮》等以及《大秘密》、《更大秘密》、《最大秘密》係列。其中《循環的宇宙》、《推理的迷宮》曾獲普利策奬提名。