In other words, if there's a criticism to be levied here, it's definitely not specific to audio. Blame the human race!
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 4 responses by hilde45
Much of human happiness, for better or worse, is derived by one's status relative to others in one's perceived peer group. Expensive goods of all kinds is one way to try to raise one's social capital. Audio is just one of many ways to do this. In other words, if there's a criticism to be levied here, it's definitely not specific to audio. Blame the human race! |
@russ69 I agree with you! And yet: 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." Perhaps this is as relevant to the OP’s concern about audio: https://tinyurl.com/j37zafah |
Meditation about the ratio price/value is the ONLY necessary meditation for any audiophile... Very good life advice which also has the potential to eliminate most gear and all room treatments. Why? Because the full embrace of this meditation could yield satisfaction with small radio. |