How much would you like to pay?

I’m very old-fashioned when it comes to doing dishes.  I wear a pair of kitchen gloves.  Yes, those ugly kitchen gloves.  I started this ritual a long time ago when I had nicely manicured long nails.

I used to buy cheap yellow gloves for around $1.00 on sale at the local drugstore and have them in stock because they didn’t last long.  It seemed like every time I poked them with a tip of a fork or scratched them with a nail, they tore.  They usually lasted 2 weeks to 1 month.

A friend of mine recommended these hot pink kitchen gloves sold at Whole Foods Market.  I buy vegetables, fruits, bread and meat at Whole Foods Market but I never pay any attentions to these kitchen gadgets there.  I had to look for it but found it with other gloves.  However, it was almost $8.00, EXPENSIVE!  Should I buy it or not?  I was contemplating hard with a box (not a plastic bag for cheap ones) of pink kitchen gloves in my hand in the middle of the busy aisle of Whole Foods Market for a while.  Oh, well, I decided to buy it because my friend says it is good.  Now, I’ve been using it for about a month and I’m loving it.  The glove is thicker than cheap ones but still comfortable to wear it.  I can grab dishes, silverware, pots and pans easily.

Word of mouth is powerful.

While I was deciding to purchase the gloves, I read the box saying: Contoured for a perfect fit, Durable, 100% latex allows hands to breathe, Special pattern for safe grip of even the most delicate and fragile items, and on and on.  However, what made me decide to purchase is my friend’s words.  Actually my friend didn’t even use it but her friend used it and loved it.  I always trust her judgement on kitchen goods.  Word of mouth is much more powerful than those words on the box which the manufacture would pay so much money to copywriters to write.

Consumer decides value, not manufacturer.

I used to pay only $1.00 for a pair of kitchen gloves but now I will pay $8.00 for a pair with the same function but better quality.  I don’t mind paying 8 times more because what I get is of much greater value than the actual cost.  Manufacturers can come up with suggested retail price but consumers are the one who decide how much they want to spend in exchange for the value of the product.

Consumer is well educated and will pay more, based on the trusted word of a friend.