When quality is hard to judge, price becomes a shortcut.
More quotesBlind, people preferred the cheaper wine. Add the price and suddenly the expensive bottle has acquired better manners.
A price tag is not merely a demand for money. It is copy. It tells the buyer what class of object this is, how carefully to inspect it and which imperfections might be reinterpreted as character. Skincare at £90 comes with a ritual; skincare at £9 comes with ingredients. Enterprise software at an alarming price can reassure a large buyer that the vendor owns enough conference lanyards to survive procurement.
Restaurants understand the game. The heroic bottle listed first may sell rarely while making the middle bottle look like sober judgement. Nobody tasted the comparison, yet it changed the experience of paying.
Multiplying the price by five and ordering thicker cardboard is not premium strategy. It is dress-up. A premium number sends expectations ahead to inspect the sales process, onboarding, reliability and service. If those cues arrive cheap, the price stops signalling quality and starts signalling cheek.
Finance asks what margin the number creates. Marketing should ask what trouble it starts. Cheap may mean accessible, efficient or suspect. Expensive may mean capable, indulgent or ridiculous. The number has made promises before anyone has opened the box. The rest of the business now gets the bill.