Lesson 4 Everyday Decisions
Why You Buy What You Buy
Good afternoon, students. Today, I’d like to talk about a topic that concerns us ____ Money!
Do you think ____ you spend money wisely?
The truth is that most people ____ not as rational as they think.
This is because human beings are easily influenced by ____ factors.
Let me ____ my point through the following examples.
The Anchoring Effect
In 2010, Steve Jobs introduced the tablet computer to ____ world.
During the presentation, he said, “We’re going to price it under a thousand dollars,” which most people assumed meant ____
He went on to talk about the features of ____ tablet and continued to justify why the tablet was worth buying.
At the end, he said, “I am thrilled to announce to ____ that the pricing starts not at $999 but at just $499.”
The ____ went wild.
The tablet suddenly seemed affordable to ____
He put the $999 price tag ____ people’s minds at the beginning so that the $499 price would seem a lot cheaper in comparison.
Steve Jobs used something called the ____ effect to his advantage here.
It works because people tend to rely on the first piece of ____ they receive when making decisions.
Let’s say
Let’s say you are shopping ____ a new jacket and the first one you see is priced at $100.
That’s too expensive, ____ you don’t want to spend more than $50.
____ after, you see a similar jacket from a different brand with a $70 price tag.
You think ____ affordable, even though the price is still beyond your budget.
This is because ____ first piece of information acts as an anchor that influences your decisions later.
Here’s ____ common example.
Look at the two ____ of sneakers.
They both are ____ but the way their price is presented is different.
Naturally, people are more drawn to the ____ pair.
This is because the original price ____ as an anchor, making the discounted price appear more reasonable in comparison.
It is common for stores to use this kind of ____ anchoring as a way to encourage purchases.
The Endowment Effect
Now let’s move ____ to another interesting effect.
In an experiment, one group of students was given a coffee mug and ____ second group a chocolate bar.
Both groups were ____ they could exchange their items.
A third group wasn’t given anything and ____ told to choose either a chocolate bar or a coffee mug.
This group showed an equal preference ____ the two items.
About half of the group chose the chocolate bar, and the other half chose the ____ mug.
This ____ that roughly half of the first and second groups would trade their items.
But that’s not what happened.
Only ____ 10 percent of the students in the first and second groups were willing to make the exchange.
Why is this? This ____ because people value something more when they own it.
This is the ____ idea of the endowment effect.
People are less likely to give ____ what they already have or trade it for something else.
Companies often use the ____ effect as a marketing strategy.
For example, many media streaming companies offer ____ trials to customers.
Once customers use the free trial, they feel ownership of that ____ even if it’s temporary.
Consequently, they are likely to ____ it more and are willing to pay to continue to own it.
A free-return policy is another example.
Say that a company is offering free returns on a smartwatch within 30 ____ of purchase.
It seems like a good deal, since you can get a refund even after using the ____
But once you take this deal and ____ ownership of the watch, it is unlikely that you will return it.
As we’ve seen, our spending can be influenced by ____ that appeal to our emotions and mind.
I hope this short lecture gave you a chance ____ reflect on your own spending and helped you understand the reasons behind irrational purchasing decisions.