Why People Hate Sin Taxes: They Don’t Like Being Told What To Do
“A year from now, ten, they’ll swing back to the belief that they can make people… better. And I do not hold to that.” — Serenity
However, much of the research looks at the impact of higher price without taking into account that consumer response may vary depending on the reasons given for the markup. When the markup is presented specifically as a way to modify behavior, it is likely to elicit reactance and therefore be less effective. In the real world, people’s desire to assert their freedom to drink soda may very well trump the disincentive of higher cost.