Books : Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies: And Other Pricing Puzzles
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In association with Amazon.com
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by: Richard B. McKenzie
List Price: $27.99Amazon.com's Price: $18.47 You Save: $9.52 (34%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 338.520973
EAN: 9780387769998
ISBN: 0387769994
Label: Springer
Manufacturer: Springer
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 328
Publication Date: May 19, 2008
Publisher: Springer
Sales Rank: 19556
Studio: Springer
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, And Other Pricing Puzzles unravels the pricing mysteries we encounter every day.
Have you ever wondered why all movies, whether blockbusters or duds, have the same ticket prices? Why sometimes there are free lunches? Why so many prices end with '9'? Why ink cartridges can cost as much as printers? Why merchants offer sales, coupons, and rebates? Why long lines are good for shoppers? Why men earn more than women, around the globe – and why they always will?
Richard McKenzie goes on to show how the 9/11 terrorists still kill Americans every day, because their attack distorted the perceived risks and relative prices of air vs. automobile travel, and jacked up both security costs and flight delays. Professor McKenzie also explores the unintended consequences of well-meaning efforts to spur the use of environmentally friendly fuels: starvation among millions of people around the world, and the destruction of rainforests in Malaysia and Indonesia.
How can these things be? If you think you know the answers, think again. Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies, And Other Pricing Puzzles shows you that the real reasons are sophisticated and surprising – and in Professor McKenzie’s hands, both informative and entertaining.
You won’t need a degree in economics to enjoy this fascinating book, just an armchair and an inquiring mind.
Amazon.com Review:
With exhaustive research and a wry sense of humor, University of California, Irvine professor Richard McKenzie probes the pricing questions that consumers so often fail to ask in Why Popcorn Costs So Much at the Movies. By distilling the effectiveness of commonly-held strategies, McKenzie illuminates the logic in the seemingly illogical and shakes the foundations of prevalent pricing myths. Are we really fooled by prices that end in 9? If holiday clearance sales are about excess inventory, wouldn't retailers hire better buyers the next year? And why do coffee shops offer free WiFi? Fans of Freakonomics will enjoy McKenzie's entertaining analysis, as you may never look at sales, coupons, rebates - or movie theater popcorn - the same way again. - Dave Callanan
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Excellent
I am in the middle of this book, but it desrves are review before I forget. This can be viewed as a book on economic thinking methodology centered around subject of pricing. While the book is not rich in ready conclusions or practical advise on pricing (Strategy and Tactics of Pricing is such a book) it goes much deeper into the economic models that apply to price analysis and gives the student (I mean anyone interested in learning) a broad pallate of mental models that will help understanding economic ... Read More
Rating: - Should be read by every adult who spends money
This is the best book available on why things cost what they do. If you're an adult and you spend money this is "must reading". This book explains how the pricing process works and how these processes impact what we pay at the store, at the university, and at the theater.
A wonderful piece of work.
Gary C. Byrne, Ph.D.
Rating: - Informative and interesting
This book explains the surprisingly complex puzzles behind prices for every day things. It simplifies the economics into understandable language.
Rating:  - An Information Treasure Trove --for the Already Informed
--This book tells us more than we ever wanted to know about prices.
--Indeed, here's probably more about prices than we ever thought there was to know!
If you're a casual reader who's just trying to catch up on what's going on around us, the going could be slow and tedious. However, if you're a university prof, serious economics student, or a marketing or merchandising strategist ready to dive below the surface of pricetag information, you'll probably find this book information-stuffed, ... Read More
Rating: - WOW!!
Who would have guessed that the price of popcorn, movie tickets, ink cartridges, etc. was so involved? The author does a great job making these complex issues easy for everyone to understand. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to know "why"...
Better then Freakonomics.
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