Value and Worth

Why We Like What We Like from NPR Science Friday could not be more spot on.  The interview of Harvard's Paul Bloom confirmed something at I suspected based on personal experience.  They story opened by pointing out a first chair violin genius going down into the subway and making $32 the night after having led the same city's philharmonic to a tens of thousands of dollar performance.

What was different? One was perceived to have cost a lot of money to attend, and then in turn, must have been a better performer than the street violinist.

The book, How Pleasure Works, showed that we perceive pleasure and value when we think there was more effort or cost going into it.  I've lived this effect - guide covers or other layouts that were considered outstanding, but once the artist or price was revealed, some of the same people who loved it no longer thought it was quality work.

The takeaway quote from Bloom:
You think wine doesn't taste as good if you don't know it's expensive or special wine. A painting is going to look different to you, and you're going to value it differently, if you don't - depending on who you think created it.

I often see the same in the social media world, where the tools are often free or very low cost.  Certainly the skill to make a free tool sing is the difference between craftsman and a dilettante, but to the consumer or administrator, how can that free thing have the same impact as an expensive similar solution.

FourSquare is a perfect example.  It can provide the same marketing potential as an affinity card program, but for a fraction of the cost.  Still, FourSquare is perceived as a toy; the five-figure card program with readers, databases and sponsorships far more "impactful."

Bloom adds that meaning often points to essence.  How pleasing we think something is is often based upon who we think did the work and how much effort or cost it took to create it.

To listen to the story or read the transcript, jump here.