You buy a new Maserati. Parking lot attendants treat you differently. The electric window on the driver’s side has a quirk in and doesn’t always work properly. You have it repaired. It breaks again. You have it repaired. What do you think of the car?

Compare this experience to the following. You buy a new Chrysler. The electric window doesn’t work properly. They repair it. It breaks again. What do you think? Do you moan about the quality of American cars? Probably. Why?

Price seems to have forgiving effects on expectation. You will put up with more flaws on a Maserati that you will on a Chrysler before you begin to form a bad opinion. In fact, no car has a worse service record than a Lamboghini, but people with the money to own them continue to pay $400,000 for them.

The less you pay the more you expect problems, so the more you notice them. Go figure. But don’t forget this principle when it comes to pricing your own goods and services.