So the JC Penny’s effect is a phenomenon in consumer psychology where consumers react negatively to something even though it is better to them but it doesn’t feel better.
It is named after the store JC Penny’s who got rid of sales and instead lower prices to what they would be on sale all the time. This was better for the consumer but consumers liked sales so they hated it.
Anyone remember when you only had so many calling minutes on your cell phone plan?
I was working sales when we started offering unlimited calling plans.
The unlimited plan was cheaper than the old limited plan this one guy was paying for, so I thought he’d be excited to get unlimited calls for $10 less it whatever it was. Nope. He got pissed and stormed out because the UNLIMITED plan, didn’t include free nights and weekends.
I tried explaining that UNLIMITED means free ANY time of the day. “Then how come the plan doesn’t say 'Free nights and weekends?”
I understand a lot of the time, those cell companies will make something sound better than it really is, but in this case, there really was no downside to switching the plan.
You just can’t fix stupid.