Why free stuff makes us irrational

Summary

If you’ve ever wondered just how passionate people are about free samples at Costco, look no further than these 2 incidents: 2015: At a Southern California Costco, a 78-year-old was punched in the face after accusing a 24-year-old of hogging too many Nutella waffle samples. An arrest was made. 2018: At a South Carolina Costco, 2 septuagenarians on a cheeseburger sample binge got into a spat over line etiquette that ended in a hat-flying slap to the face. It may seem odd that a few small nibbles on toothpicks would incite violence. But this conduct is rooted in behavioral psychology. In short, free stuff makes us do very strange, irrational things. We’ll look at how “free” affects consumer behavior across 3 different areas: grocery store samples, shipping, and online content. VIDEO The ‘positive glow’ of not having to pay Dan Ariely, a professor of behavioral economics at Duke University and the author of Predictably Irrational, has researched the allure of free for years in all kinds of settings. One time, he even hired somebody to give out free tattoos at a party. People who otherwise may not have considered a tattoo — especially not on a whim — got inked up because the price was right. “There is something special about being free,” Ariely tells The Hustle. In 2007, he co-authored a study titled “Zero as a Special Price: The True Value of Free Products” in which participants were asked to choose one of the following: A free Hershey’s Kiss A $0.13 Lindt truffle (a superior product in quality that retails for multiples more than a Hershey’s Kiss) More than 2x as many people chose the free Hershey’s Kiss than chose the $0.13 Lindt truffle. But when Ariely and his co-authors put a $0.01 price tag on the Hershey’s Kiss and adjusted the Lindt truffle price by a mere penny, participants overwhelmingly selected the Lindt truffle. Zachary Crockett / The Hustle The researchers conducted other experiments involving real chocolates and photos of chocolates, and the results wer...