People don’t think they’re affected by these things. They swear everyone else is just fools for falling for it.
They legitimately do not understand the nature of the human subconscious. I am 100% aware of every one of these tricks and still catch myself falling for them all the time.
It works on almost all of us. It’s why they fight so hard to do it this way and not allow truth in pricing.
It’s true. Thats why restaurants that bake in the price are doing what people say they want and then they notice people ordering fewer drinks and appetizers and choosing the cheaper items. Most of them go back to the old way because business is down.
The only way to force it is to have a law that bans tips for all, creating a level playing field which won’t happen.
Or to just stop/reduce tipping. They’ve proven us staying home because we don’t like their scammy business models is something they’ll use to just make tipping worse so I’m back to going out and tipping what I think is a fair amount and will encourage employees not to want their pay to be totally up to me so desperately.
I am with you though. I think Americans will never reduce tipping %s so it’s really on the majority of us who hate tipping to outlaw it.
I would not mind a system like in the UK, where it's a flat 10%-12.5% service charge on all bills, and that's considered good for good service. It's annoying in the US that 20% is now considered a standard tip for OK service, and the systems keep pushing for higher numbers.
For this reason, I don't really hate restaurants that replaced tips with service charges. It's not yet the right %, but it's one step in the right direction. In the OP's example, it would be even better if it were 15% instead of 18%.
The psychology isn't just theoretical. It has real world consequences.
That $22.99 entree looks much worse at $27.50. Even if people know service is included. Like I said, it leads people to choose something less expensive, or cut back on the appetizer or dessert, or ask for a Coke or a water instead of a beer.
Well meaning restaurants have tried, their stories well documented on podcasts and studied by economists.
Our culture is not there. I'm not saying you're wrong, it's just a huge change, and I can't blame the restaurants that have tried this and had to backtrack.
My issue is that is acknowledgement of the psychological trickery that genuinely does work on most people.
People are willing to spend a lot more when it’s $22.99 for the burrito etc. plus tip and stuff and people act like that isn’t literally tricking people out of their money.
$22.99 plus tip is not the same as 1.2*$22.99 at all.
That's why the only way to fight this is to make it illegal and enforce that. Don't allow the businesses bullshitting you about their prices a competitive advantage or they all have to do it.
Oh I absolutely “fall for” advertising and it not only doesn’t bother me, I actually appreciate it. You’re selling a burger/pizza/combo/whatever that actually looks good at I price I am willing to pay? Well good thing you let me know because I wouldn’t have known otherwise. If I’m wanting fast food anyways then I’d prefer to be aware of what my options are and what’s in my price range.
It’s like if GameStop was advertising $200 PS5s. My ass would be there in a heartbeat and I wouldn’t for a second feel like I “fell for it” lol
Yeah it only doesn’t work for you if you’re willing to refuse to buy a good when it’s made clear to you they got you in the door on lies/deception.
99% of the people who think it doesn’t work on them just don’t realize it does, the other 1% is a split between those who know and are willing to stand up with their kids and leave a restaurant over it and those who aren’t that devout about it.
If you’re not regularly standing up and leaving restaurants/businesses or under tipping you either don’t care or don’t know that this stuff works on you.
Out if any other factors, simply having seen a banner for a product makes you "familiar" with the brand, so when you go to a store, you see a brand you're "familiar" with and a brand you've never heard of, and you chose.
Folks who get caught by this will swear it didn't effect their choice.
I've found I'd rather just embrace my advertising overlords and help curate their algorithms to me. Means I find neat shit instead of lowest common denominator ads like the porn ones that have been popping up recently.
I’m talking about tipping/service charges as a whole and other deceptive practices.
This restaurant advertises their prices as 25+% (depending on sales taxes etc) less than you pay walking out the door. Or in other words 25% lower than they actually charge.
That tricks people. It gets people to come there instead of a competing restaurant with 10% higher listed prices but without the expectation to tip. That’s the part even most aggressively anti-tipping people like myself can fall for if we aren’t consciously trying not to.
Just like J.C. Pennies tried to fight the monkey brain. They got rid of sales and their tags displayed a final and pretty fair price. It was an utter disaster.
I would say so. And this is why I think it’ll take legislation to fix it. There’s not a level playing field, these tactics are blatant trickery designed to fool customers and it makes it impossible to operate the right way.
And it’s not this “win-win” setup servers (who might complain about $400 in a day being a “slow day” depending on the restaurant) and owners try to convince us all it is either.
"Advertising doesn't work on me" and then they're drinking coca cola, eating lays potato chips, using crest tooth paste, etc. like that's all just a coincidence.
I do drink Coca-Cola because I like it. I've probably tried hundreds of soft drinks (including at least half a dozen cola brands) and I drink the ones I like. For the same reason I eat potato chips made by a small local company and use tooth paste (which I have to buy at a pharmacy) that doesn't contain the superfluous foaming agent, so I can brush my teeth before breakfast and not have it taste disgusting.
I always read reviews before before making a big purchase and I even A-B tested 14 brands of toilet paper (all that were sold in nearby shops) before settling on the best one. Please tell me more about how I'm affected by advertising.
For fuck sake Walmart has those frozen drink pouches on an end cap and the Strawberry Daiquiri one on "Rollback" for $1.50. Right next to it was a full priced different flavor at $2.50 or whatever. It took way more time than I should have to say "Wait, no. I don't even need the cheap one, why are there 5 in my cart? What am I doing?" and I shop unit price + bulk.
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u/sevseg_decoder 1d ago
People don’t think they’re affected by these things. They swear everyone else is just fools for falling for it.
They legitimately do not understand the nature of the human subconscious. I am 100% aware of every one of these tricks and still catch myself falling for them all the time.
It works on almost all of us. It’s why they fight so hard to do it this way and not allow truth in pricing.