Everyday we make choices.  Some conscious while others we are less aware of, although in every case there is some internal influence.  One atrribute that is common to all other decisions is the value equation.

In simple terms, value is simply the importance or usefullness we atrribute to something.  Basically what is it worth?  Worth does not need to be in monetary terms.

Emotional or other intangible factors form a critical part of the worth evaluation.  For example,  sometimes what someone will pay for an object is less than another persons emotional attachment. So the value to each is different.

Assessing Value

When shopping in Walmart you notice your favorite brand of jeans are $50 for a brand new pair.  The last time you purchased these jeans, exact same style, size and brand you paid $75.

The previous day you saw these jeans (the exact same) in Hudson’s Bay where they were asking $80.  Your friend offered to sell you their there old pair (they are upgrading) for $55.

Of all these opportunities to buy a pair of jeans, it seems Walmart offers the best value.  Assuredly,  the importance and usefullness is the same, the cost to aquire is less, so it’s a good value.

However, although these jeans suit you, if you have no need or desire for more jeans at the moment you probably won’t make the purchase.

Making the Decison

While tangible value, how much the jeans cost is key to a aqusition decision the intangible things like need and desire play an important part of the decison process.

While, typically we do not conciously work our way through all the aspects of the value equation when making a decision, they are always present.