EXPERIMENTS ON RATING THE UTILITY OF CONSUMER-GOODS - EVIDENCE SUPPORTING MICROECONOMIC THEORY

Predictions of microeconomic theory were investigated in four experime nts in which respondents rated the utility of consumer goods. Experime nt 1 found that ratings of marginal utility depended on the price but not on the frequency of consumption of the goods. Experiment 2 suggest ed respondents rate total and marginal utility independently. In Exper iment 3, goods with higher perceived elasticity of demand were rated o f less value, while a positive correlation between consumer's surplus and average value of goods was found in Experiment 4. These findings w ere all consistent with microeconomic theory.