Extending this a bit further, I think this applies to things like cars or cosmetics or fashion or wine. Pretty much any consumer good actually.<p>I remember a study (might be from the Ariely book) where they took wine from the same bottle, put it into two decanters, and said one was way more expensive than the other. People were asked their impressions of the two wines. The more expensive wine received rave reviews while the supposedly cheaper one was marked only passable.<p>Interesting on one level, sad on another. And exploitable for profit, as some smart marketers have been doing for a while.