A cafe owner in Ohio has come out with a very unique idea when it comes to sales: no-price menus. Yes, that’s right folks — he lets the customers decide on how much they should pay.
Of course no one may eat for free; all customers must pay according to how much they thought the meal was worth to them. And as if this idea is not surprising enough, the results surely are. Sales and customers have increased up to 100 percent on a given day.
So let’s think about this scheme universally: Could this no-price tactic be applied to our everyday world? Could it be applied to every institution (i.e. retail stores, schools, hospitals, etc.)?
Certainly not, and I’ll tell you why. This no-pricing method works in part because after they order, customers must look at the owner straight in the eye and pay how much they truly think their meal is worth. This tactic works because of the guilt-incentive — it’s hard for someone with a moral conscience to truthfully look at a person and then slide over a penny for a meal that originally was worth $12. But sadly for most people today, this type of behavior comes easily enough; hence this no-pricing method would only work in a world where honesty and rationality were implemented on our DNA, rather than the survival of the fittest motive where ethics is put on hold.
Our current society is full of individuals who look to reap the maximum gain for the minimal effort (i.e. slackers) or at the expense of someone else. The cafe owner’s methods certainly work in a small town in Ohio with almost no contact with the outside world, but once the firm does make that contact, its honesty tactic would certainly have to be terminated if the firm wished to thrive.
The emergence of the no-pricing method in this cafe (as inspired by particular restaurants in Europe) has therefore filled my idealistic heart with mixed emotions. On one hand I am hopeful that perhaps those who are dishonest and crafty may actually observe the (material and personal) benefits that cooperation and benevolence may provide to society. Looking over the other side, however, I am also slightly frustrated about the odds of this wonderful method occurring on a universal scale.
The reality is that it won’t happen. Too many individuals of today are still immersed in a shallow, inexperienced and immoral train of thought, which exemplifies that “more for me” is better regardless of the possible external consequences (although for some in certain situations, especially those in developing countries, no blame may be put on them). How long will it take for us to realize that full communication, cooperation and honesty are the only true ways to survive and get ahead in this world? I am very proud of this cafe owner from Ohio setting up this no-pricing method because he has certainly set a unique standard of ethics that we may all certainly aspire to and maybe, in time, actually attain.