单选题
Picturethis:You’reatamovietheaterfoodstandloadinguponsnacks.Youhaveachoiceofasmall,mediumorlargesoda.Thesmallis$3.50andthelargeis$5.50.It’satoughdecision:Thesmallsizemaynotlastyouthroughthewholemovie,but$5.50forsomesugarydrinkseemsridiculous.Butthere’sathirdoption,amediumsodafor$5.25.Mediummaybetheperfectamountofsodaforyou,butthelargeisonlyaquartermore.Ifyou’relikemostpeople,youendupbuyingthelarge(andtakingabathroombreakmidshow).Ifyou’rewonderingwhowouldbuythemediumsoda,theanswerisalmostnoone.Infact,there’sagoodchancethemarketingdepartmentpurposelypricedthemediumsodaasadecoy(诱饵),makingyoumorelikelytobuythelargesodaratherthanthesmall.IhavewrittenaboutthispeculiarityinhumannaturebeforewithmyfriendDanAriely,whostudiedthisphenomenonextensivelyafternoticingpricingforsubscriptions(订阅)toTheEconomist.Thedigitalsubscriptionwas$59,theprintsubscriptionwas$125,andtheprintplusdigitalsubscriptionwasalso$125.Nooneintheirrightmindwouldbuytheprintsubscriptionwhenyoucouldgetdigitalaswellforthesameprice,sowhywasitevenanoption?Arielyrananexperimentandfoundthatwhenonlythetwo"real"choiceswereoffered,morepeoplechosetheless-expensivedigitalsubscription.Buttheadditionofthebadoptionmadepeoplemuchmorelikelytochoosethemoreexpensiveprintplusdigitaloption.Brainscientistscallthiseffect"asymmetricdominance"anditmeansthatpeoplegravitatetowardthechoicenearestaclearlyinferioroption.Marketingprofessorscallitthedecoyeffect,whichiscertainlyeasiertoremember.Luckyforconsumers,almostnooneinthebusinesscommunityunderstandsit.Thedecoyeffectworksbecauseofthewayourbrainsassignvaluewhenmakingchoices.Valueisalmostneverabsolute;rather,wedecideanobject’svaluerelativetoourotherchoices.Ifmoreoptionsareintroduced,thevalueequationchanges.问:Howdoweassessthevalueofacommodity,accordingtothepassage?
【正确答案】
B
【答案解析】细节辨认题。定位句指出,价值几乎从来不是绝对的;相反,我们是相对于其他选择来确定某一物品的价值。如果引入更多选项,则价值等式将发生变化。由此可知,我们是通过比较不同的选择来评估某一商品的价值,故答案为B)“通过与其他选择进行比较”。