We do have a word for that in econ/business: revealed preference. In the business world and the ones you mentioned, however, it's not always a reliable indicato

We do have a word for that in econ/business: revealed preference. In the business world and the ones you mentioned, however, it's not always a reliable indicator; people routinely do things they do not want to do due to loyalty, face saving, fear, coercion, group pressure, and a pile of other things. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revealed_preference http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revealed_preference