Demand, supply and decisions

Yesterday I was out shopping with a friend.

She loved a dress and tried it on. It was looking nice on her.

I felt the dress was nice but not worth the Rs.4000/- tag on it.

She asked my opinion. I told her that it’s not worth that price.

“Do you really need it?” I asked.

“No, but I love it”, she replied

“Then don’t think. Go ahead and buy”, I said.

So she tried it on again and came out of the changing room saying, “You are right, it’s not worth that much. I have many such black dresses”.

I told her to go home and check if she is still thinking about that dress. If she is missing it then she should come back and buy it. If not, then she would’ve made a wise decision of not buying it.

After all, there were many such pieces in the shop. There was very little chance that they would run out of stock. So there was no need to make a decision at that instant.

There was another incident a few years ago.

I was out shopping again.

I loved a pair of shoes. It was the only pair of its kind available in the shop.

I took it off the shelf and tried it on. It fit as if it was made for me.

Everything seemed perfect. The colour, the style, design, fit.

So as always, I started analyzing if the price made sense.

The shoes were lying next to me.

I saw another customer who was eyeing the pair. He picked it up and asked the salesman how much was it for.

I immediately forgot that I was doing a rational analysis of my purchase.

I jumped up and said, “Excuse me, I’ve already bought it”. I almost pulled it from his hands and headed straight to the payment counter.

The laws of demand and supply have a lot to do with whether we make a rational decision or an emotional decision.

I was once dating a girl.

She had been looking for guys through the arranged marriage route before I entered her life.

One of those guys looked promising. Her parents wanted her to get married to that guy.

Every passing day was full of anxiety for both of us as her parents expected her to say ‘yes’ to that guy and gear up for marriage.

One day I could not take it anymore. I knew that time was running out. So I told her that I am ready to marry her.

When we love something and see it slipping out of our hands, we want it at any cost.

We do love it in the first place to want it.

But when we are faced with the prospect of losing out on it then our decision making is largely influenced by the laws of demand and supply.

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