Watch Out Gen-Y, Rationality Will Catch Up With You
My kitchen is too small; I don’t have the time, or maybe it’s just, I can’t be bothered.
New Yorkers go out to eat and they do this a lot. According to the 2014 Zagat survey, New Yorkers, led by ‘young casual diners’ went out to eat or bought 58% of their meals, up from 49% the year before.
So why would people prefer $50 cash to a $100 voucher to any restaurant of their choice? People are irrational, especially the young.
And I think New Yorkers are a special case in themselves. But that’s for another day.
Cash is easy, you don’t have to think about it, put it in your pocket and keep marching on with your head down on your way to your next destination.
It wasn’t just the results, but the speed at which they blurted ‘cash’ and kept walking was alarming.
I shouldn’t have been surprised. I mean, Wikihow’s guide to being a New Yorker has ‘Treat the sidewalks like freeways’ at number four.
Maybe they didn’t hear the restaurant option? But for the purpose of the survey lets assume they did.
I conducted the survey in Soho where I asked people what they would choose if offered $50 cash, a $75 coffee card or a $100 restaurant voucher.
Not surprisingly I found out what I expected, and some more.
While it’s irrational, I wasn’t surprised that 64% of people chose $50 cash over a $75 coffee card or a $100 restaurant voucher. As I said, cash is easy.
The age results also painted an unsurprising picture. Those who chose cash had an average age of just over 34, while those who chose the restaurant voucher, had an average age of just under 42.
However, it seems your rationality goes full circle, seventy-seven-year-old Barry from Long Island chose the cash and as he walked away he turned and shouted, “I’m to old to be worrying about vouchers.”
My faith in rational thinking was a little restored when I spoke to two young women behind the counter at The Village Twin on Prince Street. After some thought the two girls, 19 and 22 chose an option other than the cash. Their reasoning, why would we take the cash. It’s the smallest option.
Walking home I stopped by The Bobst Library at NYU to confirm my ‘cash is king’ theory.
I asked twenty students to chose between $10 cash, a $15 coffee card or $20 on their NYU printing card.
I thought two people choosing the printing card was the surprise,but a staggering fifteen of the twenty people opted for the coffee card.
A little bewildered by the results I headed home. Feeling drained after a long week of mid-term exams I walked into the coffee shop, Yours Truly, for a cortado, and just like that it all made sense.
