Irrationality
A couple of days ago, I went shopping with a friend for mini DV cassettes (for digital video cameras, obviously), and was exposed to a first-class hands-on scenario of the quintessentially irrational consumer. The biggest conspiracy in economics is that economists like to believe consumers are rational. But this friend of mine, being the terribly rational consumer he is, harhar, almost refused to buy an unbranded RM55-for-three mini DV cassette set, as opposed to the RM90-for-three mini DV cassette set from Sony, because it was too cheap. "Paying for quality", my left foot. Bearing in mind that the two sets of mini DV cassettes were - for all intents and purposes of purchase (i.e. to film something) - completely identical, the raw irrationality of this action hit me in the sensibilities like a ten-ton brick. Actually, it wasn't even a case of "unbranded vs. branded", but more a case of "obscure brand vs. stupidly famous brand".
And so, being the "rational" consumer I was (and the good economical samaritan), I applied myself with a vengeance to sway his lack of purchasing logic, and eventually succeeded. My success is no less than monumental, since I have destroyed foundations of the concept of oligopolistic markets - that consumers make their choices on brands. This consumer wasn't so stupid. Anyway, till this day, there is still no perceivable difference between his previous Sony mini DV cassettes and this less-than-acknowledged other-brand. So nyah.
Although....all right, I will admit to buying a Sony discman. And the headphones. But listen, that just proves that consumers aren't rational...which was my commencing argument, anyway! Right? Um, yes.