What Makes a Good Value?

Today, as I watched Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen , I began thinking about what makes a good value. It is all about price? Or does your experience go into it?

The matinee price at the movie theater we went to is $5.50. Compared to the price we paid for a movie when we lived in New York, that’s a great value. But what if I didn’t like the movie? Maybe not such a good value after all. Incidentally, I thought Transformers was largely worth my $5.50. Plus concessions for my husband and myself: $9.25.  But there are other considerations for me when I see a movie:

1. I usually go with my husband , so we spend time together. And we have something to talk about afterward.
2. I like getting concessions . I know they’re a rip-off, but when I go to a movie I want to eat and enjoy the full experience. (Much like when I go to a baseball game. I have to have a hot dog. Or two. And nachos.)
3. It’s fun for me to see action movies on the big screen . The sound and the visual is great on the big screen.
4. I can lose myself for a couple of hours , and just be entertained.

So, seeing a movie is a good value for me. Unless I hate the movie. But we rarely choose to go to movies that we might hate.

At any rate, as I came out of Transformers and my husband pointed out that it didn’t deserve the horrible things lots of people said about it, I thought about how personal preference pays a big role in what we perceive to be a good value . Some of the people in the theater probably felt that they had been robbed by the amount of money they paid (especially if they got concessions). But when I go to a movie, I prepare for certain expenses, and I am willing to pay for the experience. To me, there are certain things about watching a move in the theater that make it a good value.

What do you think makes a good value?

Image source: Air Force via Wikimedia Commons