Observe the Difference in Vending Machines Between Canned Soda and Newspapers

question 29

Essay

Observe the difference in vending machines between canned soda and newspapers. Typically, if you insert coins into a newspaper vending machine and open it you will see available all of the copies of the newspaper within one's reach. However, soda machines are very different. They work such that only one can is dispensed at a time. The rest of the canned soda is well out of reach. Explain in terms of marginal utility why the newspaper distributor is relatively unconcerned about the rest of the newspapers being taken without payment while the soda distributor uses a machine that goes to great lengths to insure that only one can of soda is dispensed at a time.

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Definitions:

Instinct Approaches

A perspective in psychology that suggests human and animal behaviors are innate and driven by evolutionary pressures.

Heredity

The passing on of physical or mental characteristics genetically from one generation to another.

Instinct Approaches

Theoretical perspectives in psychology that suggest some human behaviors are innate and due to evolutionary programming.

Explanation

The process of making something clear or understandable by describing the relevant facts or ideas.