The Washington Post has launched a new Sunday column called The Financial Lobe, focused on how people invest and relate to money.

In the first edition, Michael Rosenwald attempts to demonstrate how the public gets manipulated by pricing strategies.

"I thought that with our wallets feeling lighter these days, with high gas prices and depleted home values, a discussion of what provokes us to buy and invest in the things we do would be a perfect start for my new monthly column," wrote Rosenwald.

For example, he mentions the iPhone, which was launched at an initial price of $599. It's no surprise than when the device's price was lowered to $399, many people felt like they were getting a $200 discount and rushed to get the new phone. And now the iPhone is down at about $200!

"We compare it to the higher price. I don't know if Steve Jobs planned this or not, but if he manipulated based on anchoring, he did a very nice trick," said Dan Ariely, a Duke University behavioral economist and the author of "Predictably Irrational."

In the golden age of consumerism, an age in which "we have no easy way to judge the value of the things we buy, and we especially have no fast and sure way to value the utility we would get from the purchase," this is a straightforward idea for a column that can appeal to - and be instructive for - readers.

Source: Washington Post