You can look up the longer story, but here's the synopsis from a Reddit TIL: "The Chivas Regal effect is when an increase in price of a product drives increased sales without a change in quality of the product. This happens because consumers frequently associate quality with cost."
Chivas Regal didn't sell well. So they increased the price, making people think the quality must be better at a higher price. They ended up banking more with the exact same product. It's fucking stupid. But it works. If you're in the business of making money with your effort, you'd be an idiot not to take advantage the silly quirks of the human mind. It's too hard to compute the value of an item if you're not deeply familiar with its production, so the shortcut is going something that's more expensive. Almost too easy in a world where choice has become a burden.
Been there done that.
Worked for a wholesaler bicycle company. We brought in a cheap and cheerful pump that worked at a great price-point.
Let me round down/up the math (don't remember the exact figures but this is close enough to illustrate):
Manufacturer > Wholesaler = $9
Wholesaler > Bike Shops = $15
Bike Shops > Joey Consumer Cyclist = $19
A decent pump The Happy Cyclist could get for less than $20 before PST/GST.
Bike shops were
NOT buying it. It was too cheap. We were stuck with thousands of this pump.
I showed the pump to the shop-owners, they looked at it hemmed and hawed and handed it back to me.
The few shop-owners that did buy them told me they couldn't sell them in the shop. Nobody wanted this pump.
Two-to-Three months later, still not selling and stuck with thousands of the pump. The Western Regional Sales Manager finally convinces the Wholesaler Head Honcho to RAISE the price, not lower it, to blow out the pumps:
Manufacturer > Wholesaler = $9 (No change, of course)
Wholesaler > Bike Shops = $21
Bike Shops > Joey Consumer Cyclist = $29.99
The pumps started selling like the bargain they would've been before the price-hike, but were now just under $30 retail.
That part I remember clearly, the pumps were just under the $30 mark at retail.
I showed the same pump to the SAME people-shop-owners, told them "I've showed you this before, but we had to raise the price"
They knew they were buying the same thing. Some admitted to kicking themselves for not buying when they were cheaper.
We couldn't keep them in stock, more container-loads from overseas were ordered.
The Bike Shops couldn't keep them in stock.
The end customer got a pump that when it finally died, they felt they'd gotten their monies'-worth and would buy the same pump again. It was just good enough to warrant such a reaction, just good enough to be abused yet last and last a good long time if cared for properly.
...Good materials are nice, but by themselves aren't anything worth drawing attention to in my opinion.
Disagree completely.
Good Materials ARE worth drawing attention to. The MDF table can be marketed to draw attention to the design and craftsmanship, but joey-consumer still knows that at that price-point, they're getting an MDF table but ACCEPTS that because of the price-point and has bit into the better design&craftsmanship cookie. Personally I don't want an MDF table no matter how fckin well it's designed with exoskeleton resin-coating to keep it together, made in pre-formed pieces with helix-coils for assembly without having to cut anything that would damage the structural integrity, steel reinforced rods throughout, our craftsman examine each table by hand and sign off on a quality-control-sticker so they're accountable if a defect slips through.
FKUC MDF, I don't like nor want MDF.
Too much experience with bad MDF.
IF a Tube-Pedal Manufacturer sells me a tube-pedal and it comes unadvertised with a "Double-Happiness Long-Long Life" tube in it, I'm going to want to tube roll.
I once wasn't convinced tubes could make such a difference, buncha cork-sniffery nonsense, couldn't hear it in the numerous youtube vids doing such comparisons.
My amp Sifu got some of his Old-Stock RCA, GE and MIL-Spec metal-encased tubes out and we spent an evening trying different tubes comparing them to the MIC ones of various quality. Even the top MIC tube couldn't hold a grid/plate voltage to the "run-of-the-mill" NOS NAmerican/European tubes.
That tube-rolling evening was an ear-opener for me, made me a believer, so if that Tube-Pedal Manufacturer offers a pedal advertised to come with NOS JAN tubes I'm more likely to be interested. IF the same Tube-Pedal Manufacturer shipping the pedals with JAN also suggests trying a TELEFUNKEN or a MULLARD in the pedal, I'm gonna wanna try but mostly I'll just cry 'cause I can't afford those higher-end glass-bottles.
...
Like, I can't tell you how many times I've seen a product listing where they start listing out the details and it'll say things like "Metal Film Resistors" "Polyester Film Capacitors" as though those are selling points. That's like me selling a car and saying it has "Rubber Tires".
...
And I mean I can't fault folks for trying. I don't have any beef, I just think some of it is a little silly and/or stretching the limits of ones' ad-selling...
It IS a selling point. For the MUFF-fanatics, those metal-film resistors won't have the mojo or capture the classic sound that carbon-composite resistors are "known and loved for". They won't buy that pedal. Gotta be carbon-comp.
It IS a selling point, the metal-film resistors, to the people that want the best MUFF possible without an insane noise-floor and who don't buy into all the mojo-malarky of carbon-composite — they don't know anything about electronics, but they've compared their friend's original EHX Ram's Head to their other friend's Wren & Cuff Caprid Ram's Head-knockoff and preferred the Caprid.
Polyester film caps? Who cares about that? Don't bother telling me what they are, unless they're hand-rolled paper-in-oil then tell me and I'll buy it 'cause that's all I'll buy — hand-rolled PIO.
You're right though, it can get silly.
Who here isn't going to sit up and take notice that a manufacturer is using Switchcraft or Neutrik or Lumberg?
We've either EXPERIENCED the difference ourselves between crap and branded known-good materials/components, or we've read about a fellow forumite's EXPERIENCE, somebody we trust to give us the straight shot.
When Robert says he just uses Tadya-purchased caps, I relax and think "yeah, here's somebody that knows a thing or two and that's what I've been using." Great, no need to buy the Niche-ee-con caps, save a few bucks.
When my MIC jacks turned out to be soft pot-metal that's so bad they were good for one or two plug inserts and then stopped working, I came to the forum and saw that HamishR has had success with Switchcraft, Lumberg and Neutrik — I explore further and find others who only use those branded known-good components.
After my finding fault with a generic DC jack, and reading several threads/posts/comments/opinions about ONLY buying quality DC jacks from Lumberg, I take note. I take note when the laundry-list for the pedal-that-I-cannot-DIY-but-want has Lumberg DC jack and Neutrik jacks for the in&out, I'm reassured my spending money is less likely to have been wasted.
The line of where advertising copy crosses from useful to frivolous changes with each person that draws that line.
Now I'm going to go to the
Wish List and ask for a pedal, but...
I'm
not going to tell any of you why I want it, nor why YOU should want it
I'm
not going to provide a picture, a review, a soundcloud, a youtube vid
I'm
not going to give a laundry-list of its attributes,
In fact, I'm not even gonna tell you what it is.
