Wendy's Effect

Slashdot | Forget Expensive Video Cards: "Re:Whatever...(Score:5, Insightful)
by X43B (577258) on Sunday April 30, @10:26AM (#15231771)
(http://agentbuckwald.blogspot.com/ | Last Journal: Wednesday January 12, @12:30AM)
'I'm sure the $500 GFX cards only exist to make spending $300 on a single component of a computer seem reasonable.'

I'm sure you are probably joking but I think you nailed it on the head. Having a super expensive card, even if it is a low seller, has many positive benefits.

1) You will sell some to those who want to be ub3r133t
2) You get the publicity of being 'the best' even if no one actually buys the best
3) Perhaps most importantly, the 'Wendy's Effect'. It is oft quoted that no one buys Wendy's triple cheeseburger. Someone at Wendy's decided that offering it was a waste so they removed it. However, this almost immediately reduced the number of double cheeseburgers sold. Apparently when people see that there is something more expensive and more 'over the top' they are much more compelled to buy the next lower version than if that same version was the high end."