The simplest proof that the Homo Economicus human model used in the mathematical models that justify Free Market Theory is complete total bollocks is that the Marketing that has no mention of the qualities of the product whatsoever, actually works (perfumes and cars are prime examples but there are tons of examples for consumer tech also).
That and some people from Behavioural Economics (the only part of that domain which is actually scientific) have shown with various experiments that there are lots of ways in which people are not rational in their economic decisions, hence not at all the “pure personal upside maximizer” which is the Homo Economicus model.
People sticking to a well-known name such as HP is probably down to the effect of familiarity (at times known as “name recognition”) - maybe one of the biggest irrationalities in human economic behaviour and one of the pathways most commonly exploited by marketing.
deBaron@feddit.nl 1 year ago
The average person is not invested into printers and just needs a printer to occasionally print something. It’s not something they know a lot about and in the store they see a cheap printer from a well known brand that gave them good experiences with other products. It makes total sense for them to buy it. I’m sure they will know what products/brands to avoid in other areas that are unknown to you.
Bdaman@sh.itjust.works 1 year ago
To add to yours, when the person who isn’t up on printers goes to a store like walmart that has 4 different HP models on the shelf ranging from $40 to $90, one cannon for $80, and one brother for $120, they will be much more apt to get the HP because they just don’t know.