Re: Practice: Pay-Per-Use

On 5/8/05, Friedrich Brunzema 
<brunzefb-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Friedrich -

> Perhaps what I don't like about pay per use is what's so good about it
> in terms of feedback -- it reminds me that I have to pay every day.
[...]

That's definitely true. And there are business models that try to take
advantage of those feelings. For example, I perceive a magazine
subscription as partly saying "on average, you'll like enough articles
to justify the (lower) average price per issue, compared to buying the
good issues at the newstand."

Similarly for bundling: "we'll put news, sports, & comics together,
and charge one price, hoping people will get enough of what they want
to ignore what they don't want."

Businesses can give you "deals" so you don't hear that meter running -
go to the theme park for one price, pay a basic monthly cell phone
bill, etc.

> Just think about cars for one second.  If you had to put money down
> every time you got into your car to pay for the real car costs (not
> just the gas!) - this would provide good feedback on how much you are
> actually spending every day.  

In all these situations (like the car example you mentioned), I think
the customer is leaving "hard" value on the table, in exchange for
softer things: knowing it's a steady price, not having to stress over
each transaction, etc.

-- 
   Bill Wake  William.Wake-HInyCGIudOg@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  www.xp123.com