2 ms·
There’s no incremental cost to choosing a Prius. So yes they can easily be signaling. They have to have a car so you can’t the case that “they spent $30k so the
by matt-attack 7y ago
There’s no incremental cost to choosing a Prius. So yes they can easily be signaling. They have to have a car so you can’t the case that “they spent $30k so they must be authentic”.
- tasty_freeze 7y agoI'm 3 days late to respond to this because I was out of action for a few days. For the great majority of people $30,000 is a non-trivial investment, one they must live with for years. Other than buying a house or having children, it is the most expensive thing most people will buy. (ignore the exact dollar figures below .. I'm not car literate, but hopefully you'll get the idea). Say someone bought a Mazda Miata, did the paperwork, and the dealer then sent them home in a Prius. What are the odds they would shrug and say, "Oh, ok, one $30K car is the same as any other $30K car." Zero. If the had wanted a Prius he would have bought the Prius, but he valued the Miata higher. In your scenario, the Prius buyer really wanted a different car, but was willing to buy the Prius because they wanted the world to think they were green. Fine ... but then they gave up something of value to make the statement: they will not to get to drive the car they really desired. Is it really so impossible to imagine that someone would truly prefer to buy a Prius on its merits and not because it is making a statement?