Information failure, consumer behaviour and prices

Here's a good spot from regular t2u contributor Penny Brooks, who is highlighting to her students this week an article from the BBC on how businesses can confuse consumers with their price offers. Whilst the price is there for all to see, by offering differing deals, it would seem that businesses can 'trick' consumers into spending more than they intended. This represents an example of information failure.

The story is from the BBC (quoting the 'Money Advice Service') and has a set of questions which Penny has turned into Powerpoint slides to use in the classroom. Give your students just a minute per question to come to a conclusion about which is the best deal on offer and then lead a conversation on why even a (very, very bright) bunch of students might not see the best offer immediately in the supermarket.