Does knowing a cheaper option exist make expensive things less enjoyable?
People experience prices twice: once when they pay and once when they compare.
Sometimes. Knowing cheaper alternatives can reduce enjoyment because satisfaction depends on perceived fairness as much as the experience itself.
The meal is delicious.\n\nThe hotel is beautiful.\n\nThen someone mentions a cheaper alternative.\n\nThe hidden mechanism is relative value.\n\nHumans rarely evaluate experiences alone.\n\nThey compare.\n\nThey recalculate.\n\nThey wonder if they made the right choice.\n\nPleasure competes with comparison.\n\nAnd comparison is surprisingly difficult to silence.
