Careful, You May Be Spending Too Much Money On Love

Be careful if you happen to buy something based on your love of someone. A new study shows that you may be spending too much money on things associated with love; wedding rings as an example.

Love may be blind, but people tend to blindly spend their money on love without thinking about the price.

Participants in a study shopped for one of three “hypothetical” items: a wedding ring, a storage container for either a grandfather clock or a cremated grandfather, or birthday cupcakes for loved ones.

When buying an item for someone they loved, most participants felt it was inappropriate to question the price, look for a cheaper option, or negotiate the price, which resulted in them spending too much money.

Let’s delve further into this study.

Study

The study, “The price of not putting a price on love”, published in Society For Judgment And Decision Making, used weddings and funerals as case studies, and found that people indirectly pay too much money to avoid “taboo monetary trade-offs.”

The study consisted of several tests.

In the first test, participants were asked to select a wedding ring from several options; weighing price, carat weight, and color of the wedding rings.

In another test, participants were asked to choose among a pair of engagement rings. In this test, option A cost $1,275 and was .5 carats, while option B cost $3,000 and carat size was missing.

Another test dealt focused on something else entirely, containers. Participants were asked to “imagine” they were purchasing a container either for the cremation of a loved one or for the storage of a grandfather clock. The participants also indicated their willingness to search for a lower price or higher quality container.

The last series of tests involved cupcakes. That’s right, cupcakes. Participants imagined purchasing cupcakes for a birthday party for someone they “they care about deeply or love.” The cupcakes cost twenty dollars per dozen. Participants indicated how likely they were to negotiate a lower price, how many dollars off they would ask for, and their comfort negotiating for a lower price.

Results

The results of the tests in the study showed people don’t question the price with things associated with “love”. Nor do they negotiate the price or look for cheaper alternatives. However when “love” was removed from the equation, storage of grandfather clock as an example, people were more likely to look for cheaper alternatives.

91% of wedding ring shoppers chose high priced rings that weren’t necessarily high quality. The ring shoppers would forego lower price options, searched less for lower prices, and avoided negotiating prices.

In the ring test where option A cost less than option B, 89% of participants chose option B, the higher cost option assuming the higher price meant higher quality.

When people were given the choice of purchasing containers for funeral boxes versus boxes for storing a grandfather clock, the buyers of funeral boxes were more willing to search for higher quality than lower priced choices. But buyers of a clock box, a much less personal item, did look for ways to save money.

For cupcakes, buyers said OK to any price quoted and were unlikely to negotiate prices.

Final Thoughts

The studies found people don’t put a price on love. This reluctance to put a price on love results in people spending too much money than they could because they don’t search for lower prices and avoid negotiating for lower prices.

When it comes to purchasing things symbolic of love, participants of the study chose the higher price, higher quality items over equally appealing lower price, lower quality items and searched less for lower priced items and were less willing to negotiate prices.

The results of the study make sense. Maybe we blindly accept the price of these things or feel that it would be embarrassing or frowned upon to question the price of a wedding ring. So, people are ok with the first price they see feeling it “taboo” to haggle over the price of rings or funeral boxes.

Remember, the highest price for something doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best value. Just something for you to consider if you ever find yourself buying wedding rings…or cupcakes.



Leave your comments below. I would love to hear what you have to say about the people spending too much money on love.



Sweet Rose Flower Cup Cake image courtesy of mapichai at FreeDigitalPhotos.net