 |
The Grande at Starbucks to buy! |
It's a book for beginners of economics, and the content is fairly easy to follow because it discusses the examples which we will face in our everyday life. For instance, issues such as whether to buy a bottle of tea at a convenience store or a supermarket; why does the price of TVs, digital cameras and DVDs become cheaper gradually; the myths about the complicated plans of cell-phone; which size of coffee to buy at Starbucks is better; the secret of 100 yen shop.....and more.
I'd like to demonstrate one of the idea about in this book:
Should we buy a bottle of tea at a convenience store or a supermarket?
The reason for selling the exact same thing with different prices is the difference of the transaction cost between a supermarket and a convenience store (or a vending machine).
Why do people buy a 150 yen bottle of tea from a vending machine in front of the supermarket when they can get a 98 ten bottle of tea from the supermarket?
Well, here are the reasons...
1. If you are in a rush, and the line of the checkouts is very long....then you'd probably buy your drink from the vending machine.
2. Even though there are not many customers in the supermarkets, you'd prefer to buy your drink from the vending machine if you are in a rush.
3. You might feel embarrassed of buying only a 98 yen drink at the supermarket.
4. You feel lazy to go into the supermarket and look for your drink.
Many reasons, right?
For you, these reasons serve as the transaction cost. That's why there are still a lot of people buying drinks and products from vending machines and convenience stores.In other words, by reducing the transaction costs of the customers without lowering the actual prices, shops still can attract customers to purchase. In fact, this makes better profits for the shops.
It's a pity that there's no English translation of this book (though I read it in Chinese!), but please check out more details here.
Of the four reasons listed for choosing to purchase a drink from a vending machine instead of supermarket where the price is greatly reduced, number three strikes me as odd. I don't understand what would be so embarrassing about only purchasing a single inexpensive item at supermarket.
ReplyDeleteWould anyone be willing to suggest an explanation as to why this might be embarrassing for a customer?
I think it's because that Yoshimoto Yoshio wrote this book from his perspective (in other words, from the japanese point of view). It would be clear and understandable why japanese will feel embarrassed when they go to supermarket only for a bottle of tea. In general, only mothers or grandmothers will compare the price in various places, and they are the ones who do most of the grocery shopping- i guess?
ReplyDeletethanks for the suggestion!
ReplyDeletethis book seems interesting! will give it a try!