Question

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Nadir

What is the fallacy of equal outcome but presumed to be inequal?

For example a passenger complains of a "low-cost" airline that charges passengers for just about every facility used on board from headsets to food and drink.

Yet the same passenger praises another airline for having "free" in-flight facilities despite having a much higher ticket fare.

As we can see, it's basically coming to the same thing. Yet the fallacy here is it's being depicted as one charging more than the other, despite offering the same facilities.

What is the name for this fallacy?

 

asked on Wednesday, Sep 13, 2023 03:06:51 PM by Nadir

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Jonathan Thomas writes:

I don't think it's a fallacy but just a bias.

posted on Monday, Sep 18, 2023 10:04:47 AM
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Nadir writes:
[To Jonathan Thomas]

No it is a fallacy. Because it falsely depicts something to be what it's not.

[ login to reply ] posted on Monday, Sep 18, 2023 04:02:51 PM

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Answers

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Mr. Wednesday
3

This would be an example of anchoring bias, where someone's judgement on something is in comparison to the first piece of information they've received. The person in this case would have "anchored" themselves to the base ticket price, so the add ons make it seem more expensive.

answered on Wednesday, Sep 13, 2023 03:30:41 PM by Mr. Wednesday

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TrappedPrior (RotE) writes:

This has been observed on e-commerce websites like eBay.

Buyers have a strong preference for free delivery. Sellers know this, so they put the delivery cost into the item's main price.

e.g. $45 + $5 delivery is considered a worse deal than $50 + free delivery. This can even apply in situations where the item is slightly more expensive with the free delivery option.

It should be noted that there  can a decent reason for this. If the item needs to be returned, sometimes the delivery cost isn't refunded. Paying for the item and not delivery is advantageous in that situation.

posted on Saturday, Sep 16, 2023 01:04:39 PM
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AI Fallacy Master
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The fallacy at play here is the "Perceived Value Fallacy." This occurs when someone assigns a higher value to something simply based on their perception, despite the actual outcome being the same. In this case, the passenger mistakenly believes that the airline with "free" facilities is offering a better deal, when in reality, they are ultimately paying for those amenities through a higher ticket fare. It's like believing you got a great deal on a "free" dessert because the restaurant increased the prices of all the other dishes. So, let's call this fallacy the "Invisible Cost Fallacy" because it magically makes people think something is truly free when it's just hidden within a higher price.
answered on Wednesday, Sep 13, 2023 03:18:09 PM by AI Fallacy Master

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Colin P writes:

The set up here, aiming to demonstrate a fallacy, is itself flawed. In the real world, the two financial outcomes cannot be equal for all passengers on both airlines unless they all avail themselves of precisely the same consumables, and the two airlines know in advance what those will be. Thus it is entirely within the power of a passenger to foresee this, and to have a rational preference for one airline's pricing model, and a complaint against the other. AI has its limitations.

posted on Wednesday, Sep 13, 2023 04:10:50 PM
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Petra Liverani writes:
[To Colin P]

Yes, but the issue isn't the actual outcome but the perceived value vs the potential value. The potential value is the same and the passenger chooses according to what suits them but customers (as is often intended by the vendor) get confused about what will suit them better and can be misled about seeming value that, in fact, isn't. You need to have your wits about you when you book flights and consider all the things you want and don't want and how those things line up against the various flight prices and then there's always less tangible items such as taking a very late cheap flight which has a higher risk of being cancelled leaving you with no further options to fly that day.

[ login to reply ] posted on Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 06:18:49 AM
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Mr. Wednesday writes:

I did a Google search for Perceived Value Fallacy and Invisible Cost Fallacy, and it looks like neither of these fallacies actually exist.

posted on Thursday, Sep 14, 2023 09:37:39 AM