After my run, I found myself with a craving for gourmet pizza. I already had dinner plans, so I figured I would swing by Cheeseboard Pizza for a single slice, just to tide me over. But when I got there, the line was huge. “If I’m going to stand in a line that long, I’m buying two slices,” I thought to myself.
Isn’t that weird? I genuinely wanted a second slice of pizza, just because the line was long. Why should the length of the line affect my desire for pizza?
I think it’s cognitive dissonance, but it’s operating on two levels. If I wait in a really long line for pizza, that pizza is going to taste particularly good. It has to, because my brain has to rationalize spending all that time in line. In this case, I think my brain subconsciously recognized that cognitive dissonance was going to set in, that the pizza was going to be unusually good, and therefore that investing in a second slice would be worthwhile.
The kicker is that Cheeseboard Pizza throws in a free half slice with every purchase. You get 1.5 slices for $2.25, or 2.5 slices for $4.50. So the long line not only persuaded my brain that it should buy more pizza, but that it should accept a worse deal on it.
I’m not sure what the takehome lesson is here. Perhaps that lousy customer service can actually help your sales? Social psychologists, would you care to weigh in?
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Next time go home, get on the computer, order a whole pizza online and have it delivered, Domino’s Pizza Hut has online ordering and if you order a whole pizza you’ll have leftovers.
haha i def appreciate that post niels… i think there are many who can as a matter of fact lol :) we’ve def all been there at one point or the next
What kind of place charges you more for less food? haha that’s a first. But i guess whoever is willing to wait in that long of a line is really wanting that slice of pizza and that place probably knows it thats why they rip people off. i’m not a social psychologist but i major in marketing. Cognitive dissonance is a term for buyer’s remorse, but I guess it fits in your situation because in order to minize buyer’s remorse you buy more pizza to justify your longer wait. You want your benefits to outweigh the cost.
Are you sure cognitive dissonance is going on here? Maybe you knew all along subconsciously that it was worthwhile to wait for the pizza, but you only realized it consciously as you waited in line.
Perhaps it’s more of a scarcity mentality going on here. Your brain works out that if it is not satisfied by the amount that you’re buying at the time, you may crave a little more and you’d have to wait for a long time again. So to make sure you’re satisfied and won’t have to wait again, you want more. Kind of like if youre going on a hike or do something where food is not available, you’re likely to eat more before even if you’re not that hungry but just because there is a scarcity mentality for the future at play. I’m no psychologist but that’s my thought. This kind of thing happens all of the time though but I had never thought of it! Interesting!