562 Miller Economics Today, Nineteenth Edition
Chapter 20 Consumer Choice
Virtual Assets
Online games played by large numbers of players, called Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMOG),
ave become very popular. Like many games, these
MMOG games involve winning assets, such as weapons and other goods, and virtual currency that allow
players to advance or move to higher game levels. Players have discovered that these assets can be
exchanged. Exchange is desirable for less-talented players who want to advance in a game. Some games
allow players to win virtual currency that can be used to buy virtual assets. The obvious problem is that a
player must have either already acquired some virtual assets or currency to engage in exchange.
When shopping at a mall, an individual can try on an item of clothing before purchasing it to make sure it
fits. When shopping online, however, the individual cannot try on the item. If it does not fit, the customer
will have to go to the trouble of returning it. This uncertainty about the fit lowers the anticipated marginal
utility from buying online.
e.
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enter her height, weight, and various size measurements. The model on the screen automatically adjusts to
Lecture Extender Examples 563
A British economist at Warwick University is interested in discovering whether it is possible to determine
if the theory of the consumer optimum using measurable utility instead of relative levels of utility can be
Water in Saudi Arabia
In Saudi Arabia, a liter of water costs five times as much as a liter of gasoline. This is because much of
the water in Saudi Arabia is seawater that is purified in desalinization plants. This relative price is quite