All the reviews I read of William Poundstone's Priceless made it sound fascinating. The book was touted to reveal the hidden psychology of value by asking questions like, why do Prada retailers never intend to sell their most expensive items? Why do text messages cost money while emails are free? Why do jars of peanut butter keep getting smaller in order to keep the price the same? As the dust jacket reads, "The new psychology of price dictates the design of price tags...cell phone plans, supermarket aisles...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."
Although I learned interesting things about the manipulability of the human mind, I admit I was disappointed with the book overall. The first part recounts a somewhat dry history of psychophysics and details numerous experiments that prove humans' irrational behaviour when dealing with numbers. Poundstone becomes more absorbing when finally citing real-world examples about menu design, real estate advertisement and legal settlements but, alas, he ultimately lapses into discussion of more abstract experiments. The author writes in an engaging, comprehensive manner (in the style of Malcolm Gladwell) and does include some witticisms and jaw-dropping statistics, making Priceless a worthwhile read if not a smash-hit.
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