The relativity of values causes us to use money irrationally. I go to the supermarket to buy a $15 pen, and the clerk smiles and says, “You can buy this pen for $7 if you walk 5 minutes from here.” Then, most people walk five minutes and buy a $15 pen for $7. But if you want to buy a $1,000 jacket and the clerk smiles and says, “You can get a $992 jacket in five minutes from here,” most people simply buy the $1,000 jacket. Reasonably, walking for 5 minutes equals the effort, and the profit of $8 is the same. However, people might go to a store that sells pens cheaper, but not for the jacket, because the discount rate is too low. In other words, the relativity of comparing values makes us act irrationally. The pen’s discount rate is 55%, and the jacket’s is only 0.8%. Yet, the total amount is the same for all $8, and the effort to gain that profit is identical. Attitudes and misconceptions about consumption influence how we build wealth. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
McDonald’s main menu featured barbecue, and the hamburger was one of 27 items. McDonald’s provided a system for customers to order directly, pick up a hamburger after a while, and serve the food on a plate rather than in a wrapper. When they faced stagnant business, they looked back at the cause and found that 80% of sales came from hamburgers, French fries, and beverages. It took a long time to reduce the menu and switch from plates to wrappers. The past holds back the present and the future. Poor success also involves the burdens of the past. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”