How often have you bought something you felt wasn’t worth the money?

你是否经常觉得自己买的东西不值那个价？

What if you could set the price?

要是你能自己定价呢？

What factors would influence your number?

哪些因素会影响你的定价？

For years, behavioral scientists have studied such questions.

多年来，行为科学家们一直在研究这样的问题。

They often look at a model called P.W.Y.W. (Pay-what-you-want, that is.) The idea may seem like a consumer’s giddiest fantasy. But a real-life extreme version of the experiment unfolding at a restaurant in Montclair, N.J., is affirming the researchers’ predictions. It has been triggering a panoply¹ of reactions — including anxiety, delight, incredulity, guilt² and, yes, rampant³ opportunism.

他们经常观察的是一个名为PWYW（Pay-what-you-want，支付自己想支付的价钱）的模型。这听来就像是消费者最为荒唐的幻想。但是这种实验的现实极端版正在新泽西州蒙特克莱的一家餐厅进行，基本证实了研究者们的预测——它会引发各种反应，包括焦虑、高兴、怀疑、愧疚，以及——没错，便宜不占白不占。

Zod Arifai, a local chef, is offering customers a menu with no prices for the month of August, encouraging them to order as many dishes as they’d like at his two side-by-side restaurants. When diners signal for the check, servers ask, “How much would you like to pay?”

8月份，当地大厨佐德·阿里菲(Zod Arifai)给顾客们提供没有标价的菜单，鼓励他们在他的两个紧挨着的餐馆里随意点餐。当食客示意埋单时，服务员会问：“你想付多少钱？”

With no price guidelines — such as a museum’s “suggested donation” — the offer compels diners to gaze inward and develop ad hoc criteria⁴, in order to look a fresh-faced server in the eye and announce the meal’s value.Ayelet Gneezy, an associate professor of behavioral sciences and marketing⁵ at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied this model, said it could set off psychological conflict: Consumers like to see themselves as “fair” and even generous, but also want others to see them as “prudent⁶ and not a sucker.”

两家餐馆不提供博物馆的那种“建议捐款额”的参考价格，所以食客们只能自己思考，临时想出定价标准，然后看着青春焕发的服务员的眼睛，说出自己想要支付的饭钱。加州大学圣迭戈分校(University of California, San Diego)的行为科学和市场营销副教授阿耶莱特·格尼泽(Ayelet Gneezy)也研究过这个模型。他说，它会引发心理冲突：消费者想让自己显得“公平”，甚至慷慨，但也想显得“精明，不易上当”。

“I know I’m going to overpay,” Morgan Torres said the other night as he perused⁷ the menu. “I don’t want them to think of me as ‘that cheap guy at table five.’ ”

“我知道我会多付的，”有一天晚上，摩根·托雷斯(Morgan Torres)一边翻阅菜单一边说，“我可不想让他们称我为‘5号桌的那个小气鬼’。”

At the next table, Sid Dvorkin was having no such crisis of conscience. He would simply base his amount on what he had paid for other meals at Blu. “The concept of overpaying is not something I gravitate toward,” he said.

隔壁桌的锡德·德沃金(Sid Dvorkin)完全没有这样的道德危机。他根据以前自己在Blu餐厅的用餐价格来确定这顿饭要付的钱。“我是不会多付钱的，”他说。

Given the P.W.Y.W. opportunity, consumers easily rationalize their decision, Dr. Gneezy said.Barbara Rowe and Richard Katz cooked up their own rationale: palate power. They paid $12 for each of five dishes they loved, and $8 for one they didn’t.

格尼泽博士说，消费者在面对PWYW时，是能够轻松合理定价的。芭芭拉·罗韦(Barbara Rowe)和理查德·卡茨(Richard Katz)确定了自己的定价标准：口感。他们给自己喜欢的5道菜每道付12美元，不喜欢的一道付8美元。

When Mr. Arifai, 52, opened his first restaurant, Blu, in Montclair, a diverse suburb⁸ of New York City, a decade ago, The New York Times rated it “excellent.” Then he opened the more casual and also warmly praised Next Door, next door. Blu’s skate with cauliflower, wild mushrooms and truffle broth⁹ used to be $26; Next Door’s meatloaf with chipotle glaze¹⁰ on soft polenta was $14.

现年52岁的阿里菲10年前在纽约多元化的郊区蒙特克莱开设第一家餐厅Blu，当时《纽约时报》把它评为“优秀”。然后他在隔壁开了一家更随意但也同样受好评的餐厅，名字就叫隔壁(Next Door)。在Blu餐厅，配有花椰菜、野生菌和松露的煎灰鳐以前的价格是26美元。隔壁餐厅的肉糕在柔软的玉米糊上浇上墨西哥烟椒，以前的价格是14美元。

Now, with his lease ending, Mr. Arifai has decided¹¹ to move on, and eventually open a restaurant in Manhattan.

现在，租约快到期了，阿里菲决定搬走，最终在曼哈顿开一家餐馆。

A former rock guitarist with ungovernable hair, Mr. Arifai wanted to thank the community with a month of pay-what-you-want dining — despite the entreaties¹² of family and friends who pronounced the concept “insane.”

阿里菲曾是摇滚吉他手，留着一头不好打理的乱发。他想通过一个月的PWYW活动来感谢附近街区，尽管家人和朋友都认为这是个“疯狂的”主意，让他不要这么做。

In the spirit of equality, he is serving the same menu at both restaurants. But at upscale Blu, with its sleek¹³ stemware and soft sconce lighting¹⁴, diners are paying about $3 more per dish than those at Next Door, with its bright, basic décor. (Alcohol isn’t included; the restaurants are B.Y.O.B.)

为了公平起见，两家餐厅目前提供同样的菜单。但是Blu餐厅的环境比较高雅，有时髦的高脚酒杯和柔和的壁式灯光，隔壁餐厅则是明亮的普通装修。Blu餐厅的食客们给每道菜付的价钱平均比隔壁餐厅的大约多3美元（不含酒水，两家餐厅都允许自带酒水）。

Over all, Mr. Arifai said, diners seem to be paying slightly less than half the old menu prices, though a direct comparison is difficult because these portions are somewhat smaller.“The majority of people want to take advantage of the offer, but also recognize that it feels weird,” said Kathleen D. Vohs, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota who writes about the psychology¹⁵ of money. “So they limit what they order, do a good job of valuing it, and then walk back from what it’s worth.”

阿里菲说，总的来说，食客们支付的价格略低于原来菜价的一半，其实很难直接比较，因为这个月的菜量比以前的略小。“大部分人想占便宜，但又觉得那样做不太好，”明尼苏达大学(University of Minnesota)的市场营销教授凯瑟琳·D·沃斯(Kathleen D. Vohs)说。她写过金钱心理学方面的文章。“所以，他们限制点菜量，认真衡量，然后决定菜价。”

But at least once a night, the staff gets a bad taste — such as from the “young, smug” table of five that ordered 25 dishes, paid $15 and left a $5 tip.

但是，每天晚上，员工们至少会碰上一桌极为吝啬的顾客，比如有一桌坐了5个“洋洋自得的年轻人”，他们点了25道菜，付了15美元，留下5美元小费。

Indeed, at one end of the bell curve, customers will have an “economically rational” attitude, Dr. Vohs said: “ ‘I’ll take everything I can and leave no money, because the restaurant’s letting me do it.’ ”

沃斯说，的确，一种极端情况是，顾客们采取“从省钱角度讲合理”的态度，“我会尽量多吃，一点钱也不给，因为餐厅允许我这样做”。

One family ordered eight dishes and sneaked¹⁶ out, leaving a handful of dollar bills.

有一家人点了8道菜，悄悄溜了出去，只留下几美元。

“My daughter told me, ‘You gave people the option,’ ” Mr. Arifai said. “Maybe they’re poor and a night out means eating at McDonald’s. So that’s what they left. But you gave them a good meal.’ ”

“我女儿说，‘你给了人们那种选择，’”阿里菲说，“也许他们很穷，出去吃饭一般都是去麦当劳。所以他们就留了那么点钱。但是你给他们提供了很棒的一餐。”

But another family left a thank-you note with their modest amount. “The food and service was worth way more than we were able to leave.” It continued, “As a kid in college and a mother doing inconsistent freelance, without the deal we wouldn’t have gotten the chance to come.”

不过，另一个付钱不多的家庭留下了一封感谢信。“这里的食物和服务比我们能支付的要好得多。” 信中还说，“我们家有个孩子在上大学，妈妈没有固定职业，收入不稳定，要是没有优惠，我们没机会来这里吃饭。”

Dr. Vohs said that what might compensate¹⁷ for the low-ballers are the angst-ridden outliers squirming at the other end of the bell curve “who feel they have to make up for what they see as others’ misdeeds.”

沃斯说，弥补少付饭费的可能是钟形曲线另一端的那些非常忧虑的顾客，“他们觉得自己必须弥补其他人的劣行（在他们看来，少付钱是劣行）”。

The other night Lesley Jarbe was in a swivet as she anticipated that post-dessert moment of truth. She’d heard stories about the shortchangers.

有一天晚上，莱斯利·贾布(Lesley Jarbe)在吃完甜点等待付钱时，变得焦躁不安。她听说了一些顾客占便宜的事。

“I want to show the chef that I love his food and I appreciate what he’s doing,” Ms. Jarbe said. “And I worry about the kitchen staff! The waiters! I’m so anxious!”

“我想让大厨知道，我很喜欢他做的食物，很赞赏他现在的做法，”贾布说，“我为厨房的员工们担心！还有那些服务员！我非常担忧！”

And then there was the customer who somehow manned both ends of the bell curve : He took advantage of Mr. Arifai’s generosity¹⁸, even as he expressed concern about the server’s pending¹⁹ unemployment. The solution? He left $5 for the food and a $50 tip.

还有一位顾客不知为何占据了钟形曲线的两端：他既想利用阿里菲的慷慨，又对服务员可能马上失业而表示忧虑。那怎么办呢？他为食物支付了5美元，给服务员留了50美元小费。

Profit aside — and it certainly will be — Mr. Arifai considers the endeavor a success. “I’ve learned that humanity is not as bad as we think,” he said. Yes, 20 percent are paying less than a dollar a dish. “But 80 percent are not.”

撇开利润不谈（利润当然会受影响），阿里菲认为这次尝试是成功的。“我从中得知，人性并不像我们想的那么坏，”他说。是的，20%的顾客为一道菜支付了不到1美元。“但80%的顾客不是这样的。”

The other night as Andrew Manno, a waiter, was collecting money from a couple, their 6-year-old daughter asked, “Aren’t we supposed to pay what we want for our food?”

有一天晚上，服务员安德鲁·曼诺(Andrew Manno)在等一对夫妇付钱时，他们6岁的女儿问道，“我们是可以自己决定怎么付账吗？”

Yes, Mr. Manno replied.

是的，曼诺回答道。

“I want to pay for my ice cream,” the child said. Then she reached in her bag and handed him a candy bar.

“我想为我的冰激凌付账，”这个孩子说。然后她从自己的包里掏出一块糖，递给了服务员。