Dr Hannah Chang, Associate Professor of Marketing at the Singapore Management University Lee Kong Chian School of Business, points out on how consumer psychology of formula milk prices offers several insights on decision-making during purchase. Some of the insights include using price as a proxy of quality, status quo bias, and emotional factors.
Understanding these psychological underpinnings might help parents become more cognisant of their own decision-making process, and realise that they have choices and can change their purchasing decisions without compromising the well-being of their child.
As Dan Ariely - psychologist, professor, and best-selling author of "Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions" - puts it: "If multiple perspectives are available and we are aware of the bias, then we know how to fix it."