This is more a market question. I'm just pondering this and found it interesting, after reading the book Parenting, Inc. I just want to initiate discussion. Feels like grad school a bit.
I never saw a very expensive stroller until the $800 ones hit the market. Suddenly all others were "cheapened." A $400 stroller? Why, that's half as good as the $800 one. See the psychology there? Smart marketing. And now strollers can cost even more now. Sure the expensive ones are better than the $50 ones, but there is nothing to warrant $800 at all besides playing with the consumer's mind. Even people w/o a lot of money scrimped and saved to get the $800 stroller. They wanted it THAT bad.
So, I wonder why carseat manufactures don't jump at the chance to raise the price a LOT (like a $1,000 carseat). The market would change. This is purely from an advertising/marketing point of view. Of course, we as consumers don't want to pay more for carseats. But if in the world of strollers they can get away with it (and honestly, a stroller is just a stroller and all it does is moves the kid), a carseat can be the line between life and death. That's huge! Psychologically the masses would WANT to pay $1,000 for a carseat. Not that everyone could or would even want to, but the aspiration would be there at some level.
Again, this is theoretical. I majored in advertising and I am simply curious.
I never saw a very expensive stroller until the $800 ones hit the market. Suddenly all others were "cheapened." A $400 stroller? Why, that's half as good as the $800 one. See the psychology there? Smart marketing. And now strollers can cost even more now. Sure the expensive ones are better than the $50 ones, but there is nothing to warrant $800 at all besides playing with the consumer's mind. Even people w/o a lot of money scrimped and saved to get the $800 stroller. They wanted it THAT bad.
So, I wonder why carseat manufactures don't jump at the chance to raise the price a LOT (like a $1,000 carseat). The market would change. This is purely from an advertising/marketing point of view. Of course, we as consumers don't want to pay more for carseats. But if in the world of strollers they can get away with it (and honestly, a stroller is just a stroller and all it does is moves the kid), a carseat can be the line between life and death. That's huge! Psychologically the masses would WANT to pay $1,000 for a carseat. Not that everyone could or would even want to, but the aspiration would be there at some level.
Again, this is theoretical. I majored in advertising and I am simply curious.