However, there was a statistical difference between the two different price groups. 85 percent of subjects in the first group ($2.50 per pill) indicated that the pain lessened after taking the pill while 61 percent of the group in the second group ($0.10 per pill) said the pain lessened. Perhaps pharmaceutical price their drugs with this in mind?
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Placebo Effect WIth a Financial Twist
I just read about a new study on one of my favorite blogs (Freakonomics), about the placebo effect with a financial twist. Subjects were given electric shocks and asked to rate the pain. The subjects were then given a sugar pill and asked to rate the pain after the shocks. However, unlike other studies, the subjects were separated into two groups, one group was told the pills were $2.50 and another group was told the pills were discounted to $0.10 a pill. Not surprisingly the groups given the pills rated the pain lower than when they hadn't taken the pills even though the pill had no medical effect.
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