Stratospheric audio gear prices
"Premium Pricing
Premium pricing is the practice of keeping the price of a product or service artificially high in order to encourage favorable perceptions among buyers, based solely on the price. The practice is intended to exploit the (not necessarily justifiable) tendency for buyers to assume that expensive items enjoy an exceptional reputation or represent exceptional quality and distinction . A premium pricing strategy involves setting the price of a product higher than similar products . This strategy is sometimes also called skim pricing because it is an attempt to "skim the cream" off the top of the market. It is used to maximize profit in areas where customers are happy to pay more, where there are no substitutes for the product, where there are barriers to entering the market, or when the seller cannot save on costs by producing at a high volume. It is also called image pricing or prestige pricing.
Luxury has a psychological association with price premium pricing. The implication for marketing is that consumers are willing to pay more for certain goods and not for others. To the marketer, it means creating a brand equity or value for which the consumer is willing to pay extra. Marketers view luxury as the main factor differentiating a brand in a product category."
Source: Boundless. “Market Share.” Boundless Business Boundless, 26 May. 2016. Retrieved 07 Feb. 2017 from https://www.boundless.com/business/textbooks/boundless-business-textbook/product-and-pricing-strateg...
Showing 2 responses by ericrt
Thanks for your responses. I made the post partially because I ran across the text on premium pricing and thought it was relevant. It is odd, however, having ones $1,500 speakers or $1,000 DAC referred to as "budget" gear. It's no wonder the normies think we're crazy. Truth be told, if I was wealthy, I'd probably be obtaining high-end gear. For some reason, I am driven to hear that next level of clarity and transparency, among other things. |
bpolettiI Said I've heard that from the perspective of many high-end manufacturers and dealers, the best way to make a small fortune in audio is to start with a large fortune." Well said! And this from: hilde45 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5638129/ "People who are unable to maintain the same standard of living as others around them experience a sense of relative deprivation that has been shown to reduce feelings of well-being. Relative deprivation reflects conditions of worsening relative poverty despite striking reductions in absolute poverty. The effects of relative deprivation explain why average happiness has been stagnant over time despite sharp rises in income. Consumption taxes on status-seeking spending, along with official and traditional sanctions on excess consumption and redistributive policies may lessen the negative impact of relative deprivation on well-being. I think this is great also. Basically if you compare your stuff to what others have, it will make you dissatisfied with your perfectly good stuff. Being content is of great value, for sure. I think that audiophiles are just fascinated with what the next level sounds like. I am just disappointed with how the entry level sounds compared to things I grew up with that were not 'audiophile' grade. It seems like you have to lay out what is truly a small fortune to even start to get to the good stuff. But I have, and I enjoy the good stuff. I am not trying to start another conversation 🙂. It seems like if you spend even $2000 on a system, the sound quality and appearance should blow away a non audiophile. Instead, (I feel like), you get borderline junk for that cost. |