這樣一頓飯 你願意付多少錢

How often have you bought something you felt wasn’t worth the money?

你是否經常覺得自己買的東西不值那個價？

What if you could set the price?

要是你能自己定價呢？

What factors would influence your number?

哪些因素會影響你的定價？

For years, behavioral scientists have studied such questions.

多年來，行爲科學家們一直在研究這樣的問題。

They often look at a model called P.W.Y.W. (Pay-what-you-want, that is.) The idea may seem like a consumer’s giddiest fantasy. But a real-life extreme version of the experiment unfolding at a restaurant in Montclair, N.J., is affirming the researchers’ predictions. It has been triggering a panoply of reactions — including anxiety, delight, incredulity, guilt and, yes, rampant opportunism.

他們經常觀察的是一個名爲PWYW（Pay-what-you-want，支付自己想支付的價錢）的模型。這聽來就像是消費者最爲荒唐的幻想。但是這種實驗的現實極端版正在新澤西州蒙特克萊的一家餐廳進行，基本證實了研究者們的預測——它會引發各種反應，包括焦慮、高興、懷疑、愧疚，以及——沒錯，便宜不佔白不佔。

Zod Arifai, a local chef, is offering customers a menu with no prices for the month of August, encouraging them to order as many dishes as they’d like at his two side-by-side restaurants. When diners signal for the check, servers ask, “How much would you like to pay?”

8月份，當地大廚佐德·阿里菲(Zod Arifai)給顧客們提供沒有標價的菜單，鼓勵他們在他的兩個緊挨着的餐館裏隨意點餐。當食客示意埋單時，服務員會問：“你想付多少錢？”

With no price guidelines — such as a museum’s “suggested donation” — the offer compels diners to gaze inward and develop ad hoc criteria, in order to look a fresh-faced server in the eye and announce the meal’s et Gneezy, an associate professor of behavioral sciences and marketing at the University of California, San Diego, who has studied this model, said it could set off psychological conflict: Consumers like to see themselves as “fair” and even generous, but also want others to see them as “prudent and not a sucker.”

兩家餐館不提供博物館的那種“建議捐款額”的參考價格，所以食客們只能自己思考，臨時想出定價標準，然後看着青春煥發的服務員的眼睛，說出自己想要支付的飯錢。加州大學聖迭戈分校(University of California, San Diego)的行爲科學和市場營銷副教授阿耶萊特·格尼澤(Ayelet Gneezy)也研究過這個模型。他說，它會引發心理衝突：消費者想讓自己顯得“公平”，甚至慷慨，但也想顯得“精明，不易上當”。

“I know I’m going to overpay,” Morgan Torres said the other night as he perused the menu. “I don’t want them to think of me as ‘that cheap guy at table five.’ ”

“我知道我會多付的，”有一天晚上，摩根·託雷斯(Morgan Torres)一邊翻閱菜單一邊說，“我可不想讓他們稱我爲‘5號桌的那個小氣鬼’。”

At the next table, Sid Dvorkin was having no such crisis of conscience. He would simply base his amount on what he had paid for other meals at Blu. “The concept of overpaying is not something I gravitate toward,” he said.

隔壁桌的錫德·德沃金(Sid Dvorkin)完全沒有這樣的道德危機。他根據以前自己在Blu餐廳的用餐價格來確定這頓飯要付的錢。“我是不會多付錢的，”他說。

Given the P.W.Y.W. opportunity, consumers easily rationalize their decision, Dr. Gneezy ara Rowe and Richard Katz cooked up their own rationale: palate power. They paid $12 for each of five dishes they loved, and $8 for one they didn’t.

格尼澤博士說，消費者在面對PWYW時，是能夠輕鬆合理定價的。芭芭拉·羅韋(Barbara Rowe)和理查德·卡茨(Richard Katz)確定了自己的定價標準：口感。他們給自己喜歡的5道菜每道付12美元，不喜歡的一道付8美元。

When Mr. Arifai, 52, opened his first restaurant, Blu, in Montclair, a diverse suburb of New York City, a decade ago, The New York Times rated it “excellent.” Then he opened the more casual and also warmly praised Next Door, next door. Blu’s skate with cauliflower, wild mushrooms and truffle broth used to be $26; Next Door’s meatloaf with chipotle glaze on soft polenta was $14.

現年52歲的阿里菲10年前在紐約多元化的郊區蒙特克萊開設第一家餐廳Blu，當時《紐約時報》把它評爲“優秀”。然後他在隔壁開了一家更隨意但也同樣受好評的餐廳，名字就叫隔壁(Next Door)。在Blu餐廳，配有花椰菜、野生菌和松露的煎灰鰩以前的價格是26美元。隔壁餐廳的肉糕在柔軟的玉米糊上澆上墨西哥煙椒，以前的價格是14美元。

Now, with his lease ending, Mr. Arifai has decided to move on, and eventually open a restaurant in Manhattan.

現在，租約快到期了，阿里菲決定搬走，最終在曼哈頓開一家餐館。

A former rock guitarist with ungovernable hair, Mr. Arifai wanted to thank the community with a month of pay-what-you-want dining — despite the entreaties of family and friends who pronounced the concept “insane.”

阿里菲曾是搖滾吉他手，留着一頭不好打理的亂髮。他想通過一個月的PWYW活動來感謝附近街區，儘管家人和朋友都認爲這是個“瘋狂的”主意，讓他不要這麼做。

In the spirit of equality, he is serving the same menu at both restaurants. But at upscale Blu, with its sleek stemware and soft sconce lighting, diners are paying about $3 more per dish than those at Next Door, with its bright, basic décor. (Alcohol isn’t included; the restaurants are B.Y.O.B.)

爲了公平起見，兩家餐廳目前提供同樣的菜單。但是Blu餐廳的環境比較高雅，有時髦的高腳酒杯和柔和的壁式燈光，隔壁餐廳則是明亮的普通裝修。Blu餐廳的食客們給每道菜付的價錢平均比隔壁餐廳的大約多3美元（不含酒水，兩家餐廳都允許自帶酒水）。

Over all, Mr. Arifai said, diners seem to be paying slightly less than half the old menu prices, though a direct comparison is difficult because these portions are somewhat smaller.“The majority of people want to take advantage of the offer, but also recognize that it feels weird,” said Kathleen D. Vohs, a professor of marketing at the University of Minnesota who writes about the psychology of money. “So they limit what they order, do a good job of valuing it, and then walk back from what it’s worth.”

阿里菲說，總的來說，食客們支付的價格略低於原來菜價的一半，其實很難直接比較，因爲這個月的菜量比以前的略小。“大部分人想佔便宜，但又覺得那樣做不太好，”明尼蘇達大學(University of Minnesota)的市場營銷教授凱瑟琳·D·沃斯(Kathleen D. Vohs)說。她寫過金錢心理學方面的文章。“所以，他們限制點菜量，認真衡量，然後決定菜價。”

But at least once a night, the staff gets a bad taste — such as from the “young, smug” table of five that ordered 25 dishes, paid $15 and left a $5 tip.

但是，每天晚上，員工們至少會碰上一桌極爲吝嗇的顧客，比如有一桌坐了5個“洋洋自得的年輕人”，他們點了25道菜，付了15美元，留下5美元小費。

Indeed, at one end of the bell curve, customers will have an “economically rational” attitude, Dr. Vohs said: “ ‘I’ll take everything I can and leave no money, because the restaurant’s letting me do it.’ ”

沃斯說，的確，一種極端情況是，顧客們採取“從省錢角度講合理”的態度，“我會盡量多吃，一點錢也不給，因爲餐廳允許我這樣做”。

One family ordered eight dishes and sneaked out, leaving a handful of dollar bills.

有一家人點了8道菜，悄悄溜了出去，只留下幾美元。

“My daughter told me, ‘You gave people the option,’ ” Mr. Arifai said. “Maybe they’re poor and a night out means eating at McDonald’s. So that’s what they left. But you gave them a good meal.’ ”

“我女兒說，‘你給了人們那種選擇，’”阿里菲說，“也許他們很窮，出去吃飯一般都是去麥當勞。所以他們就留了那麼點錢。但是你給他們提供了很棒的一餐。”

But another family left a thank-you note with their modest amount. “The food and service was worth way more than we were able to leave.” It continued, “As a kid in college and a mother doing inconsistent freelance, without the deal we wouldn’t have gotten the chance to come.”

不過，另一個付錢不多的家庭留下了一封感謝信。“這裏的食物和服務比我們能支付的要好得多。” 信中還說，“我們家有個孩子在上大學，媽媽沒有固定職業，收入不穩定，要是沒有優惠，我們沒機會來這裏吃飯。”

Dr. Vohs said that what might compensate for the low-ballers are the angst-ridden outliers squirming at the other end of the bell curve “who feel they have to make up for what they see as others’ misdeeds.”

沃斯說，彌補少付飯費的可能是鐘形曲線另一端的那些非常憂慮的顧客，“他們覺得自己必須彌補其他人的劣行（在他們看來，少付錢是劣行）”。

The other night Lesley Jarbe was in a swivet as she anticipated that post-dessert moment of truth. She’d heard stories about the shortchangers.

有一天晚上，萊斯利·賈布(Lesley Jarbe)在吃完甜點等待付錢時，變得焦躁不安。她聽說了一些顧客佔便宜的事。

“I want to show the chef that I love his food and I appreciate what he’s doing,” Ms. Jarbe said. “And I worry about the kitchen staff! The waiters! I’m so anxious!”

“我想讓大廚知道，我很喜歡他做的食物，很讚賞他現在的做法，”賈布說，“我爲廚房的員工們擔心！還有那些服務員！我非常擔憂！”

And then there was the customer who somehow manned both ends of the bell curve : He took advantage of Mr. Arifai’s generosity, even as he expressed concern about the server’s pending unemployment. The solution? He left $5 for the food and a $50 tip.

還有一位顧客不知爲何佔據了鐘形曲線的兩端：他既想利用阿里菲的慷慨，又對服務員可能馬上失業而表示憂慮。那怎麼辦呢？他爲食物支付了5美元，給服務員留了50美元小費。

Profit aside — and it certainly will be — Mr. Arifai considers the endeavor a success. “I’ve learned that humanity is not as bad as we think,” he said. Yes, 20 percent are paying less than a dollar a dish. “But 80 percent are not.”

撇開利潤不談（利潤當然會受影響），阿里菲認爲這次嘗試是成功的。“我從中得知，人性並不像我們想的那麼壞，”他說。是的，20%的顧客爲一道菜支付了不到1美元。“但80%的顧客不是這樣的。”

The other night as Andrew Manno, a waiter, was collecting money from a couple, their 6-year-old daughter asked, “Aren’t we supposed to pay what we want for our food?”

有一天晚上，服務員安德魯·曼諾(Andrew Manno)在等一對夫婦付錢時，他們6歲的女兒問道，“我們是可以自己決定怎麼付賬嗎？”

Yes, Mr. Manno replied.

是的，曼諾回答道。

“I want to pay for my ice cream,” the child said. Then she reached in her bag and handed him a candy bar.

“我想爲我的冰激凌付賬，”這個孩子說。然後她從自己的包裏掏出一塊糖，遞給了服務員。