I was kind of engaging in hyperbole when I wrote this. It isn't that there aren't other factors, but it's certainly become a device to be exploited by business. Which is, like, what else is new? :)
Still, one would think that as inflation makes small denominations less useful, they would be eliminated; or the monetary system would be restructured, so that, for example, we're going to call a dollar a penny from now on, but it retains its current purchasing value. Although that takes a huge psychological toll, when you're suddenly working for '$400' a year instead of '$40,000.' The psychological impact is a real worry, given how much the health of the economy is based on the mood of consumers... people start getting budget-conscious and all of a sudden it's a problem for the economy, or so they'd have you believe in 'Money' and 'Fortune.'
What you're talking about at the end is an economic crisis. Yes, people are very concerned about their money then; and what you say sort of ties in to what I'm getting at. When people are price-conscious but not alarmed, they're more easily deluded into making a poor decision. Remember that what we're talking about are tiny amounts per transaction, which add up to huge profits for the company in question. It only takes a moment of confusion or apathy, and the stakes are very tiny for each individual consumer. But they add up, and businesses count on these individual reactions and these devices.
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Still, one would think that as inflation makes small denominations less useful, they would be eliminated; or the monetary system would be restructured, so that, for example, we're going to call a dollar a penny from now on, but it retains its current purchasing value. Although that takes a huge psychological toll, when you're suddenly working for '$400' a year instead of '$40,000.' The psychological impact is a real worry, given how much the health of the economy is based on the mood of consumers... people start getting budget-conscious and all of a sudden it's a problem for the economy, or so they'd have you believe in 'Money' and 'Fortune.'
What you're talking about at the end is an economic crisis. Yes, people are very concerned about their money then; and what you say sort of ties in to what I'm getting at. When people are price-conscious but not alarmed, they're more easily deluded into making a poor decision. Remember that what we're talking about are tiny amounts per transaction, which add up to huge profits for the company in question. It only takes a moment of confusion or apathy, and the stakes are very tiny for each individual consumer. But they add up, and businesses count on these individual reactions and these devices.